Should SEC Football Eliminate FCS Teams From Schedules?

SEC football is constantly accused of playing light schedules or pushover teams by other conferences. Is it time for FCS teams to be eliminated from scheduling?

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Coming into the second year of the College Football Playoff format, it’s clear that one of the things the committee is taking very seriously is strength of schedule (SOS). If your team is being stacked up against another with a similar record, the opponents that you play could go a long way to deciding who is higher ranked.

Prior to this system, during the BCS era, strength of schedule was part of the mathematical equation calculated by the various computers, but it didn’t weigh nearly as heavy. The SEC was accused during several seasons of essentially taking weeks off against FCS (formerly I-AA) opponents.

The truth is, every conference has (and still does) played some FCS schools. While some conferences have scaled back the number of FCS schools they schedule, the Big Ten has actually taken steps to eliminate them completely once some of the previously inked agreements are complete.

There are arguments on both sides for including these schools on the schedule, and perhaps completely eliminating them will end up being a detriment to the sport and to college athletics as a whole.

When these smaller programs agree to play larger schools, they know exactly what they’re more than likely headed for…and that’s being crushed. Not that upsets don’t sometimes happen, but in 2014, the SEC beat their 12 FCS opponents by an average score of 49-10, with only Vanderbilt’s 21-20 win over Charleston Southern being a competitive game.

Some argue that the lopsided scores are damaging to the psyche of players, while others say that stepping up the level of competition for one week during the season will toughen them and force them to really dig deep to maximize their play.

Nov 22, 2014; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Jonathon Rumph (18) jumps over a Charleston Southern Buccaneers defender during the first quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

But what these schools get in terms of what happens on the field is nothing compared to what it means financially for their programs. Some schools have entire budgets that rely upon the large payouts they receive for sacrificing themselves to the Power-5.

To eliminate these games from the schedules could possibly mean some programs would be severely crippled financially or even shut down. In 2014, Florida paid Idaho $975,000 for a game that wasn’t even played (cancelled due to weather conditions). That number increased Idaho’s budget by nearly 60 percent.

The revenue streams that FBS teams have coming in to their massive budgets from conference splits, bowl games and NCAA payouts aren’t available for FCS programs.

Certain FCS conferences — Big Sky, Big South, Colonial, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, Southern, Southland, and SWAC — receive a revenue split from the NCAA each season. In 2014, that total was $2.25 million to split between the nine of them [Source: Business of College Sports], so these games are crucial to the budgets of many schools who agree to these guaranteed payouts.

With the Power-5’s newly acquired autonomy, one of the things they should examine and come to agreement on is not allowing FCS scheduling to become a thing of the past, but rather to limit how many and (most importantly) when these games are played.

That’s where the SEC comes in, and should really become more cognizant of scheduling patterns.

There should be nothing wrong with each Power-5 school having one FCS opponent scheduled each season, but that game should come within the first two weeks of the season, and should essentially be a warmup heading into the meatier part of the schedule.

The SEC has made a habit of having teams schedule their FCS games as late as November, which really gives them a week to rest key players, heal some wounds, and have that (for lack of a better word) easy week while schools in other leagues are banging helmets with conference opponents. In 2014, Mississippi State, Georgia, Auburn, Florida, South Carolina and Ole Miss all scheduled November FCS games, and took a beating from the national media for doing it.

Do we really want to see a Georgia team who is fighting for a playoff spot playing Charleston Southern on Nov. 22?

By the time November rolls around, fans should be treated to the best possible football they can get, and the games being played should all be meaningful. So eliminate the FCS? No. Just limit when they are scheduled.

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These games, for all they provide the FCS programs, shouldn’t be eliminated. They provide invaluable experience for the players, and a financial windfall for their programs. They also provide intrigue. When one of these FCS teams pulls off the impossible and upsets their Goliath opponent, it becomes a great story throughout the season.

The SEC should take lead in assuring that these games are not dismissed as being relics in the new postseason system, and to show that they are still a valuable part of football scheduling for both sides.

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