FCS programs you consider Elite

[bison07]

To piggy Back the topic about teams you would like to see become Elite, who do the fans consider Elite?

Some of Mine are in no particular order

Apply, Montana, GSU, UNI, Delaware have high respect for Youngstown ST for their history but need to step it up this year could help

[clenz]

I'll go by conference

Big Sky:
Montana
EWU - on the cusp? They have a NC, and some individual honors the last 5 years, but for every 9+ win season there is a couple 7 or less.

Big South
None
None of cusp

CAA:
Delaware - verge of falling off of elite to next tier?
JMU - cusp of elite...
William and Mary - near top of second tier

Ivy:
None
Sure some could be because of long ago history but not in my eyes

MEAC:
None even close

MVFC:
UNI - could be argued won't be elite until a title is won BUT 16 conference titles in 27 years of MVFC/Gateway play is pretty damn good
SIU - ask me 4 years ago and SIU was here...now they've fallen off pretty hard
NDSU - NC last year, but I can't put them as elite yet because they are still too new. Keep up what they've done the last two years for 3 or 4 more years and they'll be there.
YSU - 13 years ago sure...now? Nope

NEC:
None even close

OVC:
None even close

PL:
None even close

PFL:
None even close

SoCon:
ASU
GSU

Southland:
None

SWAC:
None even close.

[AZGrizFan]

CURRENTLY Elite? Montana, ASU & NDSU

HISTORICALLY Elite? Add GSU to that list

Honestly I am surprised at how quickly NDSU ascended the ladder to the top. They made it look very easy.

[grizzaholic]

CURRENTLY Elite? Montana, ASU & NDSU

HISTORICALLY Elite? Add GSU to that list

Honestly I am surprised at how quickly NDSU ascended the ladder to the top. They made it look very easy.

[SuperHornet]

Within Conference:

Big Sky: Montana, Montana State, EWU. (Close: CP, PSU, WSU.)
CAA: Delaware, JMU. (Close: B&M, Maine, ODU, UNH.)
SoCon: App, GA Sou, Wofford. (Close: Elon, Furman.)
Big South: Liberty, Stony Brook, CCU.
Ivy: Harvard, Princeton, Yale.
MVFC: UNI, YSU. (Close: NDSU, SIU, MO St.)
SLC: SHSU, McNeese. (Close: UCA, SFA.)
NEC: RMU, Albany.
OVC: Jax St, SEMO. (Close: TTU, Murray St.)
Patriot: Lafayette, Lehigh. (Close: Holy Cross.)
Pioneer: Dayton, J'ville, San Diego. (Close: Drake.)
SWAC: Grambling, AL S&M.
MEAC: Norfolk St., SC St. (Close: Morgan St., Hampton, DE St.)

Nationally:

Top Tier: Montana, UNI, Del, App.
Second Tier: EWU, MSU, JMU.
Third Tier: CP, SHSU, NDSU, McNeese, UNH, B&M, SIU, YSU, Wofford, UCA.
Fourth Tier: Liberty, Stony Brook, ODU, IL St.

Of course, this includes historical rep with current rep. I do think, though, that my top tier qualifies for that status on BOTH counts.

[Big McLargehuge]

I'll copy clenz's conference approach while bolding the schools that I consider truly elite.

Big Sky:
Montana - Easily.
Montana State - If they can keep up what they've been building of late they'll be back there soon enough.
Eastern Washington - A recent NC and a few awards of late...gotta sustain that for a while longer, though.

Big South
None

CAA:
Delaware - If they were made of bronze they'd be green by now...but it wouldn't take much to restore them to their prior glory.
William & Mary - Extremely close to crossing over to the elite tier, but they need at least a National Championship appearance to get there first.
JMU - They're almost there, but need more consistency and a couple more deep runs.
New Hampshire - Hit the snooze button here and just plum forgot about them, my bad

Ivy:
None

MEAC:
None even close

MVFC:
Northern Iowa - They're teetering on the positive side for the same reason W&M is, but on the opposite side of things - they've at least been to a National Championship Game. They're here for their dominance of their conference, but that only means so much if you can't win in the playoffs...and NDSU is aiming for their throne.
North Dakota State - I won't give them elite status yet just because their success at this level hasn't been sustained yet, but I fully expect them to continue their success.
Southern Illinois - They were on the cusp very recently and have an 80s title to fall back on...but with a 9-13 record the past two years they've fallen on the wrong side of things.
Youngstown State - When I first got into 1-AA/FCS football, absolutely...now, not so much.

NEC:
None even close

OVC:
None even close

PL:
None even close

PFL:
None even close

SoCon:
Appalachian State - No comment necessary.
Georgia Southern - When you've won 6 of the past 27 titles handed out you have a place here...even if you're in an 0 for 11 slump...their recent rise helps things a lot, though.

Southland:
McNeese State - They've been to two NCGs in 15 years, that's worth an honorable mention at the very least...

SWAC:
None even close.

[Grizalltheway]

You have Bill and Mary on the verge but UNH doesn't even get a mention? I know their flagship poster is a douche, but c'mon...

[Darell1976]

Montana, Montana State, App State, UNI

NDSU is getting there and will be with more successful seasons they have had 2 out of 4.
Idaho when they come back to the BSC.

[grizcountry420]

Sorry.. Montana State isnt an elite program. They've won 2 playoff games since '84..............

[AZGrizFan]

Nationally:

Top Tier: Montana, UNI, Del, App.
Second Tier: EWU, MSU, JMU.
Third Tier: CP, SHSU, NDSU, McNeese, UNH, B&M, SIU, YSU, Wofford, UCA.
Fourth Tier: Liberty, Stony Brook, ODU, IL St.

I'm not even sure what "third tier" and "fourth tier" elite even means....but you might want to look at that Top Tier list. There's an egregious error (or two) that you might want to correct.

[Aho Old Guy]

The Vermin of Furman deserve a SoCon mention ...

[Darell1976]

Sorry.. Montana State isnt an elite program. They've won 2 playoff games since '84..............

Really?? My bad.

[SACCAT]

So how far back in history do you get to go? Is it the last 10 years, 20 years, 2 years, last year?

[Big McLargehuge]

You have Bill and Mary on the verge but UNH doesn't even get a mention? I know their flagship poster is a douche, but c'mon...

Brain fart...completely glossed over them. I added them.

[Catattack]

So how far back in history do you get to go? Is it the last 10 years, 20 years, 2 years, last year?

Good question. Who is elite this year or on the cusp is quite a bit different than a complete historical view.

[Brock Landers]

Within Conference:

Big Sky: Montana, Montana State, EWU. (Close: CP, PSU, WSU.)
CAA: Delaware, JMU. (Close: B&M, Maine, ODU, UNH.)
SoCon: App, GA Sou, Wofford. (Close: Elon, Furman.)
Big South: Liberty, Stony Brook, CCU.
Ivy: Harvard, Princeton, Yale.
MVFC: UNI, YSU. (Close: NDSU, SIU, MO St.)
SLC: SHSU, McNeese. (Close: UCA, SFA.)
NEC: RMU, Albany.
OVC: Jax St, SEMO. (Close: TTU, Murray St.)
Patriot: Lafayette, Lehigh. (Close: Holy Cross.)
Pioneer: Dayton, J'ville, San Diego. (Close: Drake.)
SWAC: Grambling, AL S&M.
MEAC: Norfolk St., SC St. (Close: Morgan St., Hampton, DE St.)

Nationally:

Top Tier: Montana, UNI, Del, App.
Second Tier: EWU, MSU, JMU.
Third Tier: CP, SHSU, NDSU, McNeese, UNH, B&M, SIU, YSU, Wofford, UCA.
Fourth Tier: Liberty, Stony Brook, ODU, IL St.

Of course, this includes historical rep with current rep. I do think, though, that my top tier qualifies for that status on BOTH counts.

So... everyone. Including teams that have made the playoffs once

[89Hen]

Hate to be the homer but not a whole lot of love for the Hens on many lists. Some are extremely strange..

Montana, Montana State, App State, UNI

How are MSU and UNI on the list and not UD?

[Brock Landers]

I'll go with the SH approach, but less insane

Top Tier: Montana, Delaware, NDSU, ASU, GSU
Second Tier: JMU, YSU, McNeese, UNI
Third Tier: Wofford, UNH, W&M, EWU, MSU, ODU
Fourth Tier: CP, SHSU, UCA, EKU, SIU, Nova


Gets pretty tricky in the 4th tier. You have teams like Nova and SHSU that make runs every few years, teams like EKU that have been around forever but haven't done jack shit in forever, newcomers that have won games like UCA, etc.

[89Hen]

CURRENTLY Elite? Montana, ASU & NDSU

HISTORICALLY Elite? Add GSU to that list

So by "currently" in the case of NDSU you're really talking about 2011, but for AppSt you're obviously going back a few years, and why Montana but not UD if you're looking at a snapshot like NDSU?

NC's in last 10 years: UD - 1, UM- 1
NC appearances in last 10 years: UD - 3, UM- 3
Playoff wins: UD - 11, UM - 14

Me thinks you're fishing and I'm only going to nibble and leave it at that.

[ASUMountaineer]

Within Conference:

Big Sky: Montana, Montana State, EWU. (Close: CP, PSU, WSU.)
CAA: Delaware, JMU. (Close: B&M, Maine, ODU, UNH.)
SoCon: App, GA Sou, Wofford. (Close: Elon, Furman.)
Big South: Liberty, Stony Brook, CCU.
Ivy: Harvard, Princeton, Yale.
MVFC: UNI, YSU. (Close: NDSU, SIU, MO St.)
SLC: SHSU, McNeese. (Close: UCA, SFA.)
NEC: RMU, Albany.
OVC: Jax St, SEMO. (Close: TTU, Murray St.)
Patriot: Lafayette, Lehigh. (Close: Holy Cross.)
Pioneer: Dayton, J'ville, San Diego. (Close: Drake.)
SWAC: Grambling, AL S&M.
MEAC: Norfolk St., SC St. (Close: Morgan St., Hampton, DE St.)

Nationally:

Top Tier: Montana, UNI, Del, App.
Second Tier: EWU, MSU, JMU.
Third Tier: CP, SHSU, NDSU, McNeese, UNH, B&M, SIU, YSU, Wofford, UCA.
Fourth Tier: Liberty, Stony Brook, ODU, IL St.

Of course, this includes historical rep with current rep. I do think, though, that my top tier qualifies for that status on BOTH counts.

Where is GSU? SH, this is a poor effort...

[Tod]

CURRENTLY Elite? Montana, ASU & NDSU

HISTORICALLY Elite? Add GSU to that list

So by "currently" in the case of NDSU you're really talking about 2011, but for AppSt you're obviously going back a few years, and why Montana but not UD if you're looking at a snapshot like NDSU?

NC's in last 10 years: UD - 1, UM- 1
NC appearances in last 10 years: UD - 3, UM- 3
Playoff wins: UD - 11, UM - 14

Me thinks you're fishing and I'm only going to nibble and leave it at that.

You're slightly off on UM. Either zero NCs in last 10 years or, if you're willing to count 2001, four NC appearances.

But your point is valid. UD is an elite FCS program.

[expandspanos]

"Elite" FCS teams: James Madison, Montana, Montana State, Northern Iowa, NDSU, Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Sam Houston State

"On the Cusp": Delaware, Youngstown State, Eastern Washington, Cal Poly, Wofford, Elon, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Stony Brook, Albany, Alabama State, Villanova, Richmond, William and Mary.

"Getting there": North Dakota, South Dakota State, Portland State, Maine, Weber State

[89Hen]

"Elite" FCS teams: James Madison, Montana State, Northern Iowa, NDSU, Sam Houston State

"On the Cusp": Delaware

"Getting there": North Dakota, South Dakota State, Portland State, Jacksonville State, Maine

[ChickenMan]

But your point is valid. UD is an elite FCS program.

UD under KC Keeler has been a program of peaks followed by valleys. Three championship appearances and one title over the past ten years would seem to indicate that Delaware should be included in the 'elite' class.. but five other seasons during that same period that produced a combined record of 27-30 might suggest otherwise. Question is.. do the high peaks offset the too many valleys??? That inconsistency debate is still ongoing among Hen fans.

[93henfan]

"Elite" FCS teams: James Madison, Montana, Montana State, Northern Iowa, NDSU, Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Sam Houston State

"On the Cusp": Delaware, Youngstown State, Eastern Washington, Cal Poly, Wofford, Elon, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Stony Brook, Albany, Alabama State, Villanova, Richmond, William and Mary.

"Getting there": North Dakota, South Dakota State, Portland State, Maine, Weber State

Oh wow.