Did the NCAA Just Doom ETSU and the rest of the Southern Conference?
Possibly, though there may be a way out.
Last week the NCAA raised the fee for a Football Championship Subdivision program wishing to join the Football Championship Subdivision from a cheap $5,000 to a whopping $5 million.
Which likely means FCS programs are going to stay right where they are for the foreseeable future.
And then what will the perception of FCS East Tennessee State be hereafter?
It’s not just that the Bucs are losing these days, it’s that they are losing relevancy.
Consider how many of their one-time peers have passed them by:
- Appalachian State. Once thought of as ETSU’s main rival, the FBS Mountaineers now schedule the Bucs in football only as a tune-up or money game. In 1981, the all-time series between the two football programs was even. Now, the Mountaineers will never play football in Johnson City again.
And spare us any talk about “ETSU is still the better basketball school.” Villanova is a far better basketball school than Penn State. Who do you perceive to have more prestige in the world of college athletics?
Besides, the Bucs have dropped their last two basketball games to Appalachian.
