In the last fifteen years, fifteen college football programs have made the move up from FCS to FBS. Even before NIL and the transfer portal tipped the balance of power even more in the favor of P5 schools, mid-major schools were left with their crumbs. In todays ever changing college football universe, what drives a programs decision to move up to the FBS?
There’s an old adage that comparison is the thief of joy. Liberty, which played its first season in the FBS in 2018, had an undefeated regular season in 2023 before winning their conference championship. They went on to play Oregon in the Fiesta bowl and, well, it turned out like many people expected, in an Oregon romp. Even after starting 13-0, many people will only remember that Liberty team for their embarrassing loss to a college football blue blood when the lights were the brightest. And losing in such a fashion only strengthens the argument to keep group of 5 teams out of the college football playoff. But Liberty and those who follow G5 football knew their unprecedented success was special. So, how did they ascend from an FCS program with only one 10-win season in their 50-season history, with one FCS/I-AA playoff berth in just under 30 years, to a Fiesta Bowl berth?
Although Liberty never had eye popping success at the FCS level, they were a consistent competitor. They quietly cultivated a tradition of success in the late 2000s and 2010s, winning eight Big South Conference championships (2 outright and 6 shared) between 2007 to 2016. In 2017, under the tutelage of Turner Gill and in their last season of FCS play, they upset heavily favored Baylor in Waco, loudly announcing their presence to the CFB world.
Liberty’s ascension into a G5 powerhouse seems inevitable in hindsight. They are the largest four-year institution in the state of Virginia by a margin of almost 20,000, with 50,591 undergraduates enrolled in the Fall 2024 semester. This gives them a de-facto advantage financially, as their large enrollment numbers (and revenue from tuition fees in turn) allow for a bigger athletics budget, and in turn better facilities. Liberty’s Williams Stadium has expanded from a capacity of 12,000 when it opened in 1989, to 25,000 today, with two renovations within the last 15 years. They also built a new $29M practice facility in 2017 ahead of their transition to FBS. Their large student body coupled with success on the field has led to great fan turnout, the Flames average attendance for home games in 2024 was 20,345, the most in C-USA. Although their facilities may not be as flashy as those in the SEC and they may not draw SEC level crowds, they have built a niche for themselves in C-USA that sets them apart from mid-majors from a recruiting standpoint.
In todays era, the transfer portal is both a blessing and a curse for mid majors like Liberty. So often recruits go unnoticed by larger schools and end up at mid-majors, play for a season or two to put some good tape together, then quickly transfer to a powerhouse program that will give them a better opportunity to turn pro. But as the transfer portal taketh, it also giveth. Players routinely transfer from P5 schools to G5 schools for more playing time, among other reasons. Take quarterback Malik Willis for example. Willis started out his collegiate career at Auburn before transferring to Liberty after two seasons of little playing time and losing the Auburn starting QB job to Bo Nix in 2019. In Willis’s two seasons as a starter with Liberty he passed for 5,000 yards and rushed for another 2,000+, accounting for 74 total touchdowns. He was 17–6 as a starter for Liberty and now plays for the Green Bay Packers in the NFL.
Liberty’s path to the FBS has been similar to other schools that have made the transition. James Madison and Sam Houston State won FCS national titles, and were similar to Liberty in that they had large student bodies relative to FCS. So how do schools like Kennesaw State and Missouri State justify their jump to FBS?
Institutions know that a strong football program provides positive exposure for their school, and brings together a community. Take Marshall for example. Marshall is based in Huntington, WV, the states capitol and a quiet town of around 45,000 residents on the banks of the Ohio river. The Thundering Herd were two time I-AA (now FCS) champions, winning in 92’ and 96’. During their run of success they routinely had the highest attendance in I-AA, regularly drawing crowds upwards of 20,000 faithful clad in Green and White. Marshall made the jump to I-A (now FBS) in 1997.
But teams don’t base their decision to move up based on attendance numbers alone. Kennesaw State played its first season of football in 2015 and made the transition to FBS in 2022, and went 48–15 in their first five seasons. They decided to make the jump to FBS despite only having a stadium capacity of 13,000.
So if teams like Sam Houston State and James Madison have moved up after winning national championships, and Kennesaw State moved up with a small stadium and a few winning seasons, then why hasn’t, say, North Dakota State? They have won ten of the last fourteen FCS titles, after all, and they are consistently atop the FCS in attendance.
It’s not because they can’t compete. NDSU is 9-4 all-time against FBS teams, including wins over No. 13-ranked Iowa in 2016, Iowa State in 2014, and Kansas State in 2013. Its because they know they have carved out such a niche for themselves as an FCS powerhouse and, quite frankly, the move up would not really benefit them in any way, perhaps excluding a bigger TV deal. Why would you want to go from playing for a championship almost every year to being, at best, a team that does well within their group of 5 conference and if they get lucky, make it to a NY6 bowl like Liberty but get blown out. Everyone knows North Dakota State as a dynasty, regardless of what division they compete in. Winning championships is their brand, and they want to keep it that way.
Group of five til' I die 