History of NCAA Conference Realignment and the Big East

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Georgetown would be well-advised to join Butler (and Dayton) in the Pioneer Football League.

I have no inside information but I am certain Georgetown fully knew what the consequences were when it decided on maintaining the no scholarship policy and that there is more to it's decision to stay in the PL than wins and losses. I bet the Patriot League's academic prestige and regional foes are very important factors.

Fair points trephin. Thank you for posting them, and I certainly accept them.

However, I don't envy Georgetown's football coaching staff in their recruitng efforts in the Patriot League.

Patriot League Rival Coach: "We really want you to play football for our school, and we're willing to offer you free tuition, free room & board, and free books for the four years that you play here."

Georgetown Coach: "We really want you to play football for the Hoyas, but it's gonna cost your parents about $280,000."

Another important factor to be considered is that non-scholarshipped football programs rely heavily on donations from alumni and other benefactors for their continued existence. If a school’s football team consistently fares poorly on the field, fan support will diminish, home game attendance will fall, and donations from alumni and other benefactors will decline.

Therefore, there are strategic and financial incentives for fielding a respectable football team on a regular basis. Keeping the cash-giving alumni happy is important for the finances of a school’s athletic department, and the best two ways of keeping these alumni happy are: (1) fielding winning football teams and (2) providing some desirable locations for alumni to meet with each other and enjoy a college football game together - such as San Diego, Jacksonville, and Deland.

In the specific case of Georgetown, the Hoyas have won a total of four conference games in the four seasons since the Patriot League began allowing football scholarships, including their most recent 0-6 performance. There could be dark days ahead for the Hoyas’ football program unless Georgetown begins to award football scholarships, or changes conference affiliation for football.

NCAA Division III - Wikipedia

In 1992, several Division I schools playing Division III in football, most notably Georgetown University, were forced to make their football programs Division I. This directly led to the creation of the Pioneer Football League, a non-scholarship football-only Division I FCS conference that remains in operation today. Although Georgetown still does not award football scholarships, it has never been a PFL member.

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There were no NCAA divisions before 1973.

You're quite obviously correct. My apologies for missing that in the discussion of Wikipedia's (incorrect) Creighton Men's Basketball article.

NCAA Division III - Wikipedia

Division III formed in 1973, and is the NCAA’s largest division, with approximately 40% of the total membership. The Division consists of colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletically-related financial aid (athletic scholarships) to their student-athletes.

The Xavier Musketeers football program was discontinued in 1973, citing cost concerns.

Do any of you older Xavier fans know if Xavier ever considered downgrading to Division III football in 1973 (at least on a trial basis) as an alternative to discontinuing the Musketeers' 73-year-old football program?

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) - Wikipedia

The Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) was formerly known as Division I-AA.

Division I-AA was formed in 1978. "Division I-AA" was changed to "Football Championship Subdivision" by the NCAA in 2006, although it is still informally and commonly used.

Division I FCS schools are currently restricted to giving financial assistance amounting to 63 full scholarships. As FCS football is an "equivalency" sport (as opposed to the "head-count" status of FBS football), Championship Subdivision schools may divide their allotment into partial scholarships. However, FCS schools may only have 85 players receiving any sort of athletic financial aid for football—the same numeric limit as FBS schools. Because of competitive forces, however, a substantial number of players in Championship Subdivision programs are on full scholarships.

Another difference is that FCS schools are allowed to award financial aid to as many as 30 new players per season, as opposed to 25 in FBS. Finally, FCS schools are limited to 95 individuals participating in preseason practices, as opposed to 105 at FBS schools (the three service academies that play FBS football are exempt from preseason practice player limits by NCAA rule).

A few Championship Subdivision conferences are composed of schools that offer no athletic scholarships at all, most notably the Ivy League and the Pioneer Football League (PFL) - a football-only conference. The Ivy League allows no athletic scholarships at all, while the PFL consists of schools that offer scholarships in other sports but choose not to take on the expense of a scholarship football program.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

I am certain Georgetown fully knew what the consequences were when it decided on maintaining the no scholarship policy and that there is more to it's decision to stay in the PL than wins and losses.

I bet the Patriot League's academic prestige and regional foes are very important factors.

Upon further reflection of your excellent post, I have concluded that you hit the nail on the head, and consequently, it is highly unlikely that Georgetown will ever join the Pioneer Football League.

Georgetown University – US News College Reviews and National Rankings

Ranked #20 in National Universities

50 Best Catholic Colleges - best-catholic-colleges.com

Georgetown University is ranked #2 out of 253 Catholic Institutions

Patriot League Football - Wikipedia

Patriot League football was non-scholarship until the league presidents voted to approve football scholarships starting with the 2013 recruiting class. Once the transition to scholarship football is complete in the 2016 season, the total number of scholarship equivalents cannot exceed 60 in any season, three short of the NCAA FCS maximum. However, Georgetown does not offer football scholarships.

Georgetown Hoyas Football – ESPN

Patriot League Football - 2016 Final Standings

TEAM • CONF • OVR
Lehigh • 6-0 • 9-3
Fordham • 5-1 • 8-3
Colgate • 4-2 • 5-5
Bucknell • 3-3 • 4-7
Holy Cross • 2-4 • 4-7
Lafayette • 1-5 • 2-9
Georgetown • 0-6 • 3-8

Pioneer Football League - Wikipedia

Current Members: Butler University, Davidson College, University of Dayton, Drake University, Jacksonville University, Marist College, Morehead State University, University of San Diego, and Stetson University.

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When Georgetown’s President and Board of Governors first became aware that all of the Hoyas’ Patriot League foes were going to start awarding football scholarships, they had four options available:

(1) Remain in the Patriot League as a non-scholarshipped football program (i.e. retain the old status quo).

(2) Remain in the Patriot League and award football scholarships (i.e. adopt the new status quo, which costs more money).

(3) Join the Pioneer Football League in order to provide an opportunity for the Hoyas’ football program to become competitive again (resulting in the loss of academic prestige by association).

(4) Discontinue the Hoyas’ football program altogether (probably not considered, as it would also result in the loss of academic prestige by association).

The inescapable conclusion, which trephin shrewdly alluded to in his succinct post, is that Georgetown’s President and Board of Governors made a conscious decision to sacrifice the Hoyas’ football program instead of spending more money on it (by making it a scholarshipped program), or suffering the loss of academic prestige associated with joining the Pioneer Football League.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

For those of you with a more-than-casual interest in the thread topic, these detailed and lengthy articles are well worth a read:

Georgetown Football History - Chapter 9: The Return To Division I - HoyaSaxa.com - summer, 2001

Georgetown Football History - Chapter 10: The Patriot Games - HoyaSaxa.com - summer, 2001
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The Beginnings Of The Big East - HoyaBasketball.com History

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Conference Wars Series Articles (Index Page for 4-Part Series) – Virginia Tech Sports War - June, 2004

Conference Wars, Part 1: 1978-1990 – Virginia Tech Sports War - June, 2004

1971: South Carolina leaves the ACC

1978: Georgia Tech is invited to the ACC

1978: The Big East is formed … and immediately makes a big mistake

1989: Penn State joins the Big Ten

1990: Florida State joins the ACC

Conference Wars, Part 2: 1990-1994 – Virginia Tech Sports War - June, 2004

1990: The Big East Football Conference is formed

1991: The Metro on life support

1994: The infamous Big East snub

Conference Wars, Part 3: 1994-2000 – Virginia Tech Sports War - June, 2004

1995: The Metro and the Great Midwest get it on, to the dismay of VT and VCU

1995: The Hokies join the Atlantic 10

1999: ACC expansion (round 1), and VT heads to the Big East

Conference Wars, Part 4: 2000-2004 – Virginia Tech Sports War - June, 2004

Revisiting the failed 1999 ACC expansion

2000: TV woes and the inability to expand keep the Big East prone to raiding

2003: The ACC finally makes its move

2003: The ACC rocks the college sports world by expanding

[_lh]

This is the only history information you need.

[youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ1cwq8-SBQ [/youtube]