A few FCS schools not interested in spring college football.
A strong argument is being made against spring, college football. It is coming from a small number of FCS schools. The NCAA has already declared an FCS championship will not be staged this fall. The NCAA only followed the lead of FCS conferences. After a number of conferences announced no fall football, the NCAA determined not enough teams would be involved to warrant a championship.
Though still dependent on how many conferences opt for spring football, NCAA President, Mark Emmert believes fall championships can take place next spring.
A few schools disagree about having spring football. One of those schools is Central Arkansas. Central Arkansas is scheduled to play Austin Peay on Aug. 29 in Montgomery, AL. Football Scoop reported the initiator of FCS fall play was Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks, AD, Ryan Ivey said,
"We don’t have any desire right now to play in the spring. It doesn’t do anything for us as we go into the 2021 season…our goal right now would be to opt out of the spring altogether."
More than a dozen FCS schools agree. Wanting to, and being able to, don’t automatically coincide. So far, Stephen F. Austin has only been able to schedule three games. Central Arkansas has had more scheduling success.
The Bears have eight games scheduled, though only two of them are home games. Getting to eight required home-and-homes with Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky. The Bears will also play at UAB, at Arkansas State and at Louisiana-Lafayette.
With the help of Marshall, West Virginia and Troy, Eastern Kentucky has eight games scheduled. Only three of the Colonels games are at home.
Why the rogue actions by some FCA teams? One answer is player health, as explained by Central Arkansas, Athletic Director, Brad Teague.
"It is, in our opinion, all about the well-being of our student-athletes. It’s about having recovery time, and having mental and emotional time off from their sport. And if you play fall ’20, spring ’21, fall ’21, we don’t think that is possible … And also, we don’t know what the spring is going to look like, as far as COVID-19 or scheduling or any of that. So if we can safely provide our fall programs a somewhat normal fall season, we think that is best for everyone involved."
There is another reason decisions are easier for some FCA teams. Their financial opportunities as ‘sacrificial lambs’ have diminished in the fall season. Scraping together some fall dollars might help their budgets more than a spring season.
Still, the core, player health, argument is strong. The Big Ten and Pac 12 are taking plenty of heat for the same reason. Spring college football may become popular for fans, but more than a few players will not risk a spring injury harming their NFL chances. Others, not NFL-bound, will agree with the small group of FCS teams that spring football is just a bad idea.
With a fall season less than a week away, more FCS teams do not have much time to schedule games. A hybrid approach might be tried by playing a few fall games and a few in the spring.