There is a common trend among Division I FCS football programs that some find a little odd that has existed for quite some time.
Typically, small Division I schools, like our beloved UTM, are scheduled to take on one or two powerhouse schools from the other end of the Division I spectrum – the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), a subdivision of NCAA Division I, is the second-tier below the FBS.
The FCS is home to the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and other smaller conferences. UTM calls the FCS home.
The FBS is where the bigger schools reside, and is home to powerhouse conferences like the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
This year, UTM has been scheduled to take on nationally-ranked SEC foe University of Florida and unranked SEC opponent University of Kentucky.
While not the top teams in their respective conference, there is a significant difference in school size, athletic funding and overall talent between FCS-UTM and FBS-Florida and Kentucky.
The Skyhawks have taken on other large schools such as sister school UTK, Ole Miss, University of Missouri and so on in the past.
The Skyhawks are even set to take on perennial national champion University of Alabama in 2020.
Let’s face it: the Skyhawks don’t have much of a chance at beating these schools, though rare exceptions happen sometimes, such as when underdog Appalachian State University upset the mighty University of Michigan back in 2007.
This isn’t a slight at UTM’s football program; there’s just such a huge difference between the football programs in the FBS and FCS. Nobody expects small schools like UTM to stand a chance against their larger counterparts.
If that’s the case, why send our football team to big schools just to (in all likelihood) lose, especially since these games count towards the regular season?
The answer to this question can be found if you follow the money.
It’s like a playground bully beating up other kids if they don’t hand over their lunch money. In the world of college football, the bully pays the other kids for the privilege of beating up on smaller competition.
UTM gets paid by the opposing FBS school for playing them, which works favorably for both schools.
Obviously, UTM gets paid a handsome sum for their trouble, but playing huge schools also results in exposure that doesn’t quite exist in just the FCS.
While the smaller school gets the money and exposure, the bigger school also gets money, an extra home game and a “guaranteed” win on the season.
The bigger school gets their return on investment through having the additional home game. Anyone who has been to an FCS game knows that the stadium in which the team plays is almost always packed to the brim, resulting in a plethora of ticket sales, among other monetary streams.
In addition, the FCS-FBS game allows the bigger school to build up their confidence and hammer out some flaws against an opponent who doesn’t stand much of a chance anyway. The terms “tuner game” and “cupcake game” are usually applied to these matchups because of this.
As for the FCS players, who have to make the trip to a school just to get blown out, they get the learning experience of playing much larger competitors.
It seems like a mutually beneficial relationship for both sides, and I see no problems with it currently. After all, it’s just business.
I’ll support the Skyhawks and their choices to get pummeled by larger schools. It works out for both sides in the end.
Photo Credit/Florida Gators
