The NCAA had a perfectly fine system to differentiate between the two levels of top-division football: I-A and I-AA. A decade ago, this was changed to FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) and FCS (Football Championship Subdivision), for no reason other than pomposity.
The championship game in FCS has been played in a soccer stadium in Frisco, Texas (near Dallas), since 2010. Eastern Washington won the first title awarded in Frisco, and now North Dakota State has won five in a row.
The fifth came last weekend, and might have been the most impressive: a 37-10 thumping of Jacksonville (Ala.) State, a team with fabulous offensive numbers that had Auburn beaten early in the season and let 'em off the hook.
I heard a familiar refrain from Twin Citians when the latest football success for the NDSU Bison was mentioned: "Why don't they move up to I-A?''
Me: Where?
Twin Citian: "I don't know. Maybe the Mid-American.''
Me: "Great idea. Then they can go to the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit and play a losing Big Ten team in the worst of nonstop, who-cares bowl games, rather than make a playoff run and then play for an actual championship in front of 20,000-plus in Texas.''
Twin Citian: "Yeah, but they don't have enough competition.''
