(11-30-2022 12:43 AM)46566 Wrote: (11-29-2022 09:31 PM)bullet Wrote: NMSU got the waiver to play Valpo (more that Valpo got the waiver to play a 12th game vs. NMSU). Still a 2nd FCS game, but they do get the game made up on Saturday.
Should they win aren't they put at the top of the list? I think 6-6 teams with 2 FCS wins are above Apr school's.
The exemption for FCS schools is if the school uses 80% of the maximum number of grants-in-aid. So FCS games against the Ivy League, Pioneer League and Georgetown don't count. Games against Patriot and NEC may count. The 80% is based on the student count (so 80% of 85 or 68), rather than the equivalency count. The NEC has a cap of 40 equivalency rather than the FCS cap. So an NEC school must use 40 scholarships among at least 68 players.
If they don't fund at the 80% level an FBS school won't schedule them, because in general it won't count towards six wins.
If not enough teams reach 6-6 with an FCS school that funds 80%, then a game against an FCS school that funds less than 80% can be counted. But no FBS school would schedule an FCS school with fewer than 80%, because they know that the game won't count towards bowl eligibility.
I suspect that any contract for an FBS-FCS game would stipulate that the FCS school is granting the required number of scholarships.
NMSU has already counted the game against Lamar as their one FCS win. If not for that game, they could count a win over Valparaiso.
NMSU is playing Valparaiso because they want a sixth home game, and perhaps to demonstrate that really, really, tried to schedule a replacement game.