r/fcs • u/GreenHornetsNest • Mar 03 '26

Discussion What Programs in Division II Are Seriously Looking At Jumping Up to FCS

This has been talked about before I would imagine, but the move of North Dakota State to the Mountain West and Sacramento State to the MAC among others has really opened this conversation about D-II teams making the move up to fill in slots being a lot more serious than it was before. It's clear that FCS programs who have the ability to compete at the BCS level will be watching these two with how they've gone about it with the football member only status and whether or not that's a viable path going forward. If this is the route is proven viable and teams in the FCS that have either been stalwarts or have been quick risers with the funds to FBS start making the jump up, programs from D-II would have to get the call to take those slots. Which leads me to wonder the following: which programs in D-II are seriously weighing up making that next move? One name that comes to my mind would be West Texas A&M. They were a former Division I program back in the day and had a bowl record of 4-0 in D1 before going down to D2 in 1986, and while they have a winning percentage under .500 since 2016, they are a program with a solid history. Another candidate I immediately think of is Ferris State, the winners of four out of the last five D2 College Football National Titles, with an undefeated season of 16-0 under their belt and riding a 30 game winning streak since 2024 and a winning percentage of 90%. Most of that has happened under their current head coach Tony Annese, who has been on record saying he's satisfied with his program being in D2. Still...which universities do you think will try and strike while the iron is hot and there are voids to fill at the FCS level?

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u/Rusty-Shackleford23 Sacramento State • Puget Sound Mar 03 '26

D2 is effectively dead on the west coast. Central Washington and Western Oregon are D2 programs on an island. The NWC is a D3 conference primarily made up of private schools. The Big Sky would be a huge jump for both. UAC or Patriot would be tough geographically. Tough spot for them.

D2 Azusa Pacific recently joined to SCIAC D3 SoCal conference.

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u/Gunner_Bat FCS Mar 03 '26

Yup it's sad. College ball below DI in CA is mostly just D3 (expensive as hell, all privates) or juco. No D2 or NAIA, so no scholarships below FCS. We have so many players in CA who end up having to go out to Missouri or Ohio to play D2 ball. And even the western NAIA schools (Frontier Conference) don't have many scholarships.

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u/Rusty-Shackleford23 Sacramento State • Puget Sound Mar 03 '26

Yea went through it myself when FCS didn’t work out. Humboldt’s recruiting pitch during the rumors of shutting down the program was rough. Ended up choosing UPS over a few SCIAC schools.

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u/Gunner_Bat FCS Mar 03 '26

Oh hey, I was at Humboldt State a few years before they shut down. We all knew it was coming but was sad when it happened nonetheless.