[Papa John]

<snip>

Why is it pointless to compare them?  The FCS schools have a smaller requirement (14) for number of sports required to be a Division I menber than FBS schools (16). But when the NCAA reports on the number of school teams in championship sports, they don't distinguish between FCS and FBS.  Neither does the Directors Cup.   Clearly the NCAA and Directors Cup compares them.

<snip>

I stand corrected. It's not pointless for the Directors' Cup and NCAA to compare FCS and FBS.

Having said that, I think in terms of determining "who's better," it's pointless to compare FCS to FBS because of the level of competition. Of course, that's just my opinion, and folks like Jeff Sagarin do include FCS teams in his football ratings. For example, in 2025 Harvard defeated Stetson (the university, not the hat), Brown, Holy Cross, Cornell, Merrimack, Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Penn. They lost to Yale in the regular season finale and Villanova in the first round of the FCS playoffs. But even at 9-2, according to Sagarin, Harvard had the #142 best football team in the land. The top-rated FCS team, North Dakota State, only came in at #40.

I think that the Directors' Cup is in a difficult position when it comes to FCS schools, because, as you point out, their other sports--men's and women's basketball, softball, baseball, etc.--tend to be D1. The DC can't really lump the FCS schools with the "true" D2 schools, for the same level-of-competion reason so they treat them as D1.

[Papa John]

<snip>

Why is it pointless to compare them?  The FCS schools have a smaller requirement (14) for number of sports required to be a Division I menber than FBS schools (16). But when the NCAA reports on the number of school teams in championship sports, they don't distinguish between FCS and FBS.  Neither does the Directors Cup.   Clearly the NCAA and Directors Cup compares them.

<snip>

I stand corrected. It's not pointless for the Directors' Cup and NCAA to compare FCS and FBS.

Having said that, I think in terms of determining "who's better," it's pointless to compare FCS to FBS because of the level of competition. Of course, that's just my opinion, and folks like Jeff Sagarin do include FCS teams in his football ratings. For example, in 2025 Harvard defeated Stetson (the university, not the hat), Brown, Holy Cross, Cornell, Merrimack, Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Penn. They lost to Yale in the regular season finale and Villanova in the first round of the FCS playoffs. But even at 9-2, according to Sagarin, Harvard had the #142 best football team in the land. The top-rated FCS team, North Dakota State, only came in at #40.

I think that the Directors' Cup is in a difficult position when it comes to FCS schools, because, as you point out, their other sports--men's and women's basketball, softball, baseball, etc.--tend to be D1. The DC can't really lump the FCS schools with the "true" D2 schools, for the same level-of-competion reason so they treat them as D1.