Best FCS teams of all time

[Grizlaw]

there is absolutely no valid reason at all to leave off those years, you are pulling an arbitrary subset of the data, the only logical explanation would be that they one doing it is a griz fan that obviously believe that the epoch of all things football is 1985. In leaving off those years it shows an inherent bias in the data.

So tell us which schools should move onto the list based on their performance in those years, and if you make a good argument, we'll change the list.

Either that, or stfu.

You guys are so quick to criticize those of us who have actually bothered to gather some data and make an argument, but God forbid you should actually do some work and make one yourselves.

[09griz]

Pardon me for responding to a thread titled best FCS teams of all time.

butt hurt noted...

[09griz]

there is absolutely no valid reason at all to leave off those years, you are pulling an arbitrary subset of the data, the only logical explanation would be that they one doing it is a griz fan that obviously believe that the epoch of all things football is 1985. In leaving off those years it shows an inherent bias in the data.

So tell us which schools should move onto the list based on their performance in those years, and if you make a good argument, we'll change the list.

Either that, or stfu.

You guys are so quick to criticize those of us who have actually bothered to gather some data and make an argument, but God forbid you should actually do some work and make one yourselves.

The all time FCS list puts GsU @ #1 and Montana #2 with a big drop to #3.
I've have the AGS chart but I don't care enough to post it...

[TomCat88]

In the last 10 years NDSU is 7-3 against FBS teams and has won two NCs. They were also good at playing up when they were Division II. Well, at least one game I know of. NDSU is 10-1 in FCS playoff games. I'd have to put them up there with GSU, Marshall, ASU, YSU and UM.

The big drawback on UM is that it played in such a weak conference over the years. It was like UM was the Harlem Globetrotters and the rest of the league was the Washington Generals. Every team would just seemingly lay down for the Griz. UM doesn't have such a great résumé if they're playing in the CAA or SoCon. The BSC is much better now, which is a huge reason why UM missed the playoffs outright in 2010 and 2012. Either one of those teams could've won the conference or made the playoffs in the 90s and 00s.

MSU doesn't even get in the discussion at this point. Best run was from 76-84, but other than those two years not much going on. Good team in 78, but they blew it down the stretch. Won the conference in 1979 and 1982. Won six of nine Cat-Griz games.

I'd rank them as follows:
Georgia Southern
NDSU
YSU
ASU
Marshall
Montana
Clearly the six best teams and the bottom three are really tight. There's a big drop off from UM down to whoever seventh would be. It's mostly about winning national titles, but I had to give NDSU a break, because they've only been in the FCS for about 10 years and didn't become playoff eligible until what 2007?

[LTown Cat]

I don't remember the year but NDSU probably would have won the national title but wasn't playoff eligible in their first year of transition from DII!

[09griz]

The big drawback on UM is that it played in such a weak conference over the years. It was like UM was the Harlem Globetrotters and the rest of the league was the Washington Generals. Every team would just seemingly lay down for the Griz. UM doesn't have such a great résumé if they're playing in the CAA or SoCon. The BSC is much better now, which is a huge reason why UM missed the playoffs outright in 2010 and 2012.

Conference may have been weak but Montana still ran it for nearly three decades. Also, holding the FCS record for amount of playoff WINS simply wouldn't of happened if the Griz, by your logic, only "looked" strong because of a weak conference...

Also
2010 and 2012 were coaching transitions amongst turmoil and in my opinion regardless of the BSC UM will be back on top soon.

Time will tell.
Can't wait for tonight....on my way to Missoula now!

[MSU Toddler]

Also
2010 and 2012 were coaching transitions amongst turmoil and in my opinion regardless of the BSC UM will be back on top soon.

Excuses for everything . . . (fyi most other teams have coaching transitions, turmoil, loose key players, etc).

Using griz logic, the measuring stick is championships - period. Conference titles are only a indicator of success among a small sample of teams.

NDSU with it's back to back titles and record against FBS teams is making a strong case for itself today.

What if the measure was (Number of Titles)/(Number of Years in FCS)?

[TomCat88]

The big drawback on UM is that it played in such a weak conference over the years. It was like UM was the Harlem Globetrotters and the rest of the league was the Washington Generals. Every team would just seemingly lay down for the Griz. UM doesn't have such a great résumé if they're playing in the CAA or SoCon. The BSC is much better now, which is a huge reason why UM missed the playoffs outright in 2010 and 2012.

Conference may have been weak but Montana still ran it for nearly three decades. Also, holding the FCS record for amount of playoff WINS simply wouldn't of happened if the Griz, by your logic, only "looked" strong because of a weak conference...

Also
2010 and 2012 were coaching transitions amongst turmoil and in my opinion regardless of the BSC UM will be back on top soon.

Time will tell.
Can't wait for tonight....on my way to Missoula now!

Yes, time will tell. I think you guys will win tonight in convincing fashion. That'll really get the bees buzzin'.

I didn't say being in a weak conference was the only reason, but it was a huge reason. UM was good and I put them in there with the six best teams in FCS history. I think it's real tight between Marshall, ASU and them, but I have to rank them slightly lower. The dropoff from No. 6 to No. 7 is big. Those six are in a league of their own.

Playoff wins/appearances can be misleading. When you get into the playoffs every year due to playing in a weak conference, you're going to win a lot of games, but UM lost to some weak teams at home also. Wofford, Western Ill., Cal Poly come to mind and none of those teams were all that great. YSU also beat UM in Missoula. When those games are almost exclusively at home and prior to the 20/24-team playoffs the home teams got a lot of patsies in the first round, you're gonna rack up the wins. Early on UM had the ability to buy home games and it also got help when teams seeded above them in their bracket would get knocked off and UM got to play weaker teams at home instead of traveling to play a stronger team. It's not a big knock on UM, but it padded their win totals. Eventually they would run into a strong team and get exposed. I don't think a lot of their runner-up teams were actually the second best team in the FCS, but you have to give them credit for getting there.

I could put them ahead of App State, but ASU beating Michigan in 2007 makes that tough to do. ASU was so convincing in their three-year run, while UM's title games were lackluster in comparison. Their close to Marshall, too, but that beating they took by Moss and Co. more than made up for losing to UM the year before. Marshall had a real strong body of work at the time and that '96 team was probably the best single team in FCS history. UM isn't too far behind YSU either, but the Penguins have won it all four times. Twice as many as UM, so it's hard to drop YSU behind UM.

[TomCat88]

Updated rankings:
1. Georgia So.
2. NDSU
3. YSU
4. Marshall
5. Montana
6. App State
The Griz really showed them up last night, so I move UM ahead.