Tarleton State seems to have the perfect likelihood among the many colleges which can be searching for their first FCS playoff bid in 2024.
There will probably be 36 FCS applications (out of 128 total) but to qualify for the playoffs, though solely 23 of them will probably be eligible for a bid on this yr’s 24-team discipline. It comes a yr after three colleges – Drake, Mercer and North Carolina Central – participated within the playoffs for the primary time.
Tarleton State went 8-3 below coach Todd Whitten final yr and posted a profitable report in every of its 4 seasons throughout a reclassification from Division II. This yr, the Texans’ veteran workforce is eligible for the FCS playoffs for the primary time and anticipated to be a title contender within the United Athletic Convention, whose champion receives an computerized bid to the playoffs.
All colleges that transfer as much as the FCS undergo the transitional interval earlier than turning into playoff-eligible – it’s 4 years in a transfer up from Division II and 5 years after arriving from Division III.
2024 Applications That Have By no means Participated in FCS Playoffs
The 2024 FCS applications which have by no means certified for the playoffs:
Huge Sky: Northern Colorado
CAA: Bryant; Campbell
Impartial: Merrimack
Ivy (league members don’t take part within the playoffs): Brown; Columbia; Cornell; Dartmouth; Harvard; Penn; Princeton; Yale
Northeast: Lengthy Island; Stonehill (eligible in 2026)
Ohio Valley: Lindenwood (eligible in 2026)
Patriot: Bucknell; Georgetown
Pioneer: Marist; Morehead State; Presbyterian; Stetson; St. Thomas (eligible in 2026); Valparaiso
Southland: Houston Christian; Texas A&M-Commerce (eligible in 2026)
SWAC: Alabama A&M; Alabama State; Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Prairie View A&M; Southern; Texas Southern
UAC: Abilene Christian; North Alabama; Tarleton State; Utah Tech; West Georgia (eligible in 2028)
(Trying again to our never-too-early outlook for the 2024 FCS season.)
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