I don't think they wanted to give it to them either but Liberty cried that they would sue because of a religious exemption and the NCAA caved.
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Sac State's FBS Waiver is likely denied
- Thread starter Griz til I die
- Start date
The NCAA is in such a tough spot. Without anti-trust protection from congress, they would quite rightfully lose most legal challenges. I don't envy them.
That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is the kids who were promised they would be playing in the FBS and the coaches that intended to build this team into an FBS program will all be very defeated and deflated and nobody buys in. Isn't a lot of that NIL money contingent on Sac moving up? So now that money probably dries up. Kids lose out on money they were initially promised. I could see there being some culture issues in the locker room this year if all this stays the course.
Ya but what ground does Sac State have to stand on? They're a public institution and really don't have any kind of an argument.
A couple of years ago my reaction would be "they got rejected by division 2..."
which is where they should be
which is where they should be
I'm not a lawyer, so I'd defer to any one of the many that we have, but if I was making the argument on Sac's behalf in a court of law I would argue that competitiveness on the field is not at issue. At issue is the NCAA is a monopoly (which is true), and they are creating a barrier of entry to the FBS that wrongly denies the financial gains that Sacramento State believes they will achieve. Through their violations of the Sherman Act, and both the letter and the entirety of the spirit of antitrust regulation, the NCAA is wrongfully denying Sacramento State the ability to make this move. Regardless of whether the NCAA, or the public, likes it, the NCAA has no antitrust exemptions and cannot continue to hold this barrier of entry that causes clear and direct financial harm to their University.
I'm not saying I want that to happen or that I want them out of the Big Sky, I actually don't at all, but I think that would be a tough argument for the NCAA to fight without that antitrust exemption.
horribilisfan8184
Well-known member
So you are effectively saying the NCAA can have no rules whatsoever on establishing divisions. Since I hate the NCAA, I can hardly disagree.
I mean, I'm genuinely not a lawyer, so I still defer, lol.
But yes, what I'm saying is that in my understanding the NCAA will likely lose nearly any case where the plaintiff challenges them on the basis of antitrust laws. It is one situation where I think they probably do need some exemption here, otherwise I don't know how it could be regulated unless it goes the "conferences set the rules, and good luck finding the right conference for you voluntarily."
Here's something you're not considering though. Who exactly are they gonna sue? The people that made the decision yesterday were FBS AD's and coaches that outside of serving on the committee, have no direct ties to the NCAA headquarters. Nobody from the NCAA staff made this decision. How is it even possible to sue the NCAA over this?
HelenaHandBasket
Well-known member
Yawn...
Until they sit out the year to preserve eligibility after being sold a bill of goods about how they would be on the ground floor and getting playing time as the team moves to the FBS.... It is hard to imagine that many of them were not given the pitch that Sac State is moving up as part of their recruiting.
I doubt you can sue the advisory committee themselves for giving this advice, totally agreed. But once the D1 Council is in play, they are clearly making the decision under the power of the NCAA. The argument would be the the council and the advisers themselves are yet another barrier of entry created by the NCAA's monopoly. I ha
garizzalies
Well-known member
Are you suggesting they will play better if they get rejected from FBS?
And you are talking about a team that went 1-7 last year and tied for last place in the conference?
And fired their head coach and hired a new one who has never been a head coach at the college level?
Sorry we get a lot of trolls around here, so just checking
- Sam Herder
Here is the official wording from the FBS Oversight Committee:
“The committee reviewed the application and waiver submitted by California State University, Sacramento, to enter the FCS to FBS reclassification process for the 2025-26 academic year. The committee recommends the NCAA Division I Council deny the institution’s request to waive the required bona fide invitation from an active FBS conference. The committee noted a conference invitation is of paramount importance for entering into the reclassification process because the invitation signals an institution’s readiness to enter the process. Although a waiver of the bona fide invitation requirement was granted in 2017, that decision was made in a different era, under a different set of facts and rules. The Division I membership adopted the current legislation to affirm the importance of the nature and purpose of the subdivision reclassification process, choosing to place that decision-making authority with the council. Due to the significance of the bona fide invitation from an FBS conference requirement and the lack of compelling mitigation explaining why that requirement, one that several other FCS institutions have met in recent years, has not been met, the committee does not support relief.”
Here is the official wording from the FBS Oversight Committee:
“The committee reviewed the application and waiver submitted by California State University, Sacramento, to enter the FCS to FBS reclassification process for the 2025-26 academic year. The committee recommends the NCAA Division I Council deny the institution’s request to waive the required bona fide invitation from an active FBS conference. The committee noted a conference invitation is of paramount importance for entering into the reclassification process because the invitation signals an institution’s readiness to enter the process. Although a waiver of the bona fide invitation requirement was granted in 2017, that decision was made in a different era, under a different set of facts and rules. The Division I membership adopted the current legislation to affirm the importance of the nature and purpose of the subdivision reclassification process, choosing to place that decision-making authority with the council. Due to the significance of the bona fide invitation from an FBS conference requirement and the lack of compelling mitigation explaining why that requirement, one that several other FCS institutions have met in recent years, has not been met, the committee does not support relief.”
Well it looks like Sac State still plans to leave the Big Sky and will do so tomorrow.
Ut-Grizfan
Well-known member
With Sac State out the door and probably Davis in a few years makes me wonder if the Utah Schools will end up in the Big Sky in some capacity.
We'll be down to 10 teams if that happens and when the WAC collapses they're only chance for homes are the Big West, MVFC/SUMMIT and Big Sky.
Best case for them, the Summit snags them as full members to help out Denver or they join the Big West and are Football only in the Big Sky, I know NAU would be thrilled to have both of them and have them as their 2 rivals potentially.
Personally with the talk of going to 12 games permanently I hope they'll join the SUMMIT and we could have 9 round robin Conference games + 3 OOC (which the Utah schools would benefit from as well).
We'll be down to 10 teams if that happens and when the WAC collapses they're only chance for homes are the Big West, MVFC/SUMMIT and Big Sky.
Best case for them, the Summit snags them as full members to help out Denver or they join the Big West and are Football only in the Big Sky, I know NAU would be thrilled to have both of them and have them as their 2 rivals potentially.
Personally with the talk of going to 12 games permanently I hope they'll join the SUMMIT and we could have 9 round robin Conference games + 3 OOC (which the Utah schools would benefit from as well).
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Or their morale will be destroyed and have no motivation. Which is the most likely scenario. They not gonna wanna play for some whack ass bottom dwelling fcs team for no reason. They just wasted a lot of their time going there on a pipe dream.
captain jazz
Well-known member
Would the Big Sky consider the texas schools Tarleton and UAC? They would certainly provide better football than the utah schools.
Preemptively kick Davis, Sac, and Poly out and just leave it. Back to 9 members and a full rotation of games every season with a true conference champ once again. I don't see why we need the Utah schools.
The problem though is we lack the numbers in other sports. They’ll have to add another team just to support the other sports. Which means we’ll be staying at 12 teams.