Who makes the next jump?
Liberty, Old Dominion, Charlotte and Coastal Carolina have all made the jump from FCS to FBS in recent memory. Who will be next? There are a handful of candidates that would fit into the FBS ranks already. And I’ll even tell you which conference they would fit into.
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Eastern Washington |
Mountain West |
The Eagles have won 8 conference titles since 2004 and have made the FCS Semifinals this decade, including a national title win in 2010. EWU is 104-39 since 2008, making them a proven winning team in the FCS ranks. The Eagles would fit into the Mountain West as another team in the conference or if a team such as Boise St/Fresno St/SDSU left for greener pastures.
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Illinois State |
MAC |
The Redbirds aren’t necessarily a powerhouse in the FCS, but have recently made a national title game in 2014. Illinois State would be part of the MAC conference and would join Northern Illinois as another team from the state of Illinois. In my opinion, they would be able to compete in the MAC, as they did beat Northwestern a couple years back.
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Jacksonville State |
Sun Belt or C-USA |
The Gamecocks have come on as of late in the FCS with 7 playoff appearances this decade, including a national title appearance. Jacksonville St is 52-12 the last 5 years and is also 37-1 in conference games during the same time frame. They could fit into the Sun Belt or C-USA geographically. It would just depend on the needs of the two conferences.
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James Madison |
American |
James Madison has been a hot name recently to fill the open spot in the AAC, but did not come up as a leading candidate. I still have them fitting into the American for geographical and competition reasons. The Dukes have made the FCS playoffs 10 times since 2004, including 2 national titles and 5 straight playoff appearances. JMU enters 2019 as a Top 5 team and continues to dominate in the Colonial Conference, going 34-6 the last 5 years and a 56-13 overall record.
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Kennesaw State |
Sun Belt |
The Owls began playing football in 2015 and have quickly became a good team in the Big South. KSU has gone 23-4 the last 2 seasons with 2 quarterfinal playoff appearances. A couple other new to football teams (Georgia St and South Alabama) have made the quick jump to the Sun Belt as new teams, and the Owls could do the same.
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Montana |
Mountain West |
The Grizzlies have fallen off the last few years, but are a perennial ranked team in the FCS. They have made 5 national title games since 2000 and would only take a couple years to fit into the Mountain West. The holdup for Montana is the fact that they declined their last invite to the FBS in 2010 (WAC).
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Montana State |
Mountain West |
Montana State would likely be a package deal with Montana to keep the rivalry intact. The Bobcats aren’t a powerhouse, but would be a viable choice to come into the Mountain West. With more recruiting abilities they would fit in pretty well in the MWC.
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North Dakota State |
MAC or Big Ten |
The Bison are the top candidate to move up to the FBS ranks and the MAC would likely be the landing spot. NDSU has dominated the FCS playoffs for the last 10 years. The Bison have won 7/8 FCS national titles and would immediately be a contender in the MAC. If NDSU competed right away in the MAC, perhaps they could even make the jump to the Big Ten. They have beaten a couple of FBS schools including Iowa, Kansas St and Iowa St. The Bison are easily the best candidate to move up.
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Sam Houston State |
Sun Belt |
The Bearkats have made the playoffs 7 times this decade, including back to back national title appearances in 2011/2012. Sam Houston would fit into the Sun Belt and would almost immediately be competition in the division opposite App St, Troy and Ga Southern.
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Youngstown State |
MAC |
The Penguins made an FCS national title appearance in 2016, but that is their only playoff appearance this decade. YSU would fit into the MAC with all of the other Ohio teams in the conference and could resurrect their rivalry series with Akron. The Penguins have a former P5 coach in Bo Pelini who would recruit well with a little extra help in the FBS ranks.
