Division II Football: No Respect!
 

Why is it that Division II Football does not get any respect? Yes the schools are smaller than the D I-A schools, but I believe that the players have the same tallent as their counterparts in D-I. Take for instance the Division II National Championship this year. My alma mater, Valdosta State, played Pittsburg State (Kansas) for the title. That football game was the most exciting game I have witnessed in a long time. You would think that this being the second time in the schools history Valdosta State went to the Championship game people in South Georgia would go to some home games. This is not the case. In south Georgia High School football is king. Hell, VSU does not even have our own stadium. That is very embarrassing! We share a stadium with a local high school. Yet since I started school, VSU has had a winning season every year. People are so stuck in their ways. It is time for Division II Football to share some of the time in the spotlight.

As good as VSU is do you really thing they would have a shot at a solid Div I school? The size and speed of Div I athletes is just too much for the smaller schools.

When was the last time a Div II school beat a solid Div I team?

I don't think that D II schools can compete on the same level as say USC or UGA. Yes there is a great size/speed difference. My argument is that D II schools have kids with the same tallent. Maybe not all of the teams players are stud athletes but could this be atributed to the fact that Division I schools recieve more in scholorships so they are able to pay for some of their tallent. The only thing I ask is some respect. D II players make it to the pros all of the time. They may not be 1st round draft picks making $40 million a year, but they can compete with their peers. Does it help that a top ranked BCS team recieves X number of millions for playing in a bowl game? I think so.

Lots of AA minor league baseball players jump straight to the majors rather than going through AAA but AAA teams typically have much better attendence. Why? Because the games are more interesting. When the talent level is high the sport just becomes more entertaining...

I'm sure if you're a grad of a Div II school those games are interesting, but personally they bore the hell out of me. My high school was bigger than most of these small schools...it probably has put out more NFL players in the last 10 years too.

I mean really...would you rather watch the NFL or Arena League?

It's the public fanbase. Major Division I-A schools have a much larger fanbase than an obscure Division II team would, and that's what channels like ESPN, ABC, NBC, etc. look for... My opnion at least.

Actually I don't believe that professional sports teams should pay their players the millions that they pay now. Personally I would rather watch pee-wee league football than the NFL. There is a different element about watching players play for the fun of the game. Maybe that is why I enjoy Division II football and/or college football for that matter. A majority of college football players will not make it to the NFL. I think it is rediculous for a football player to make $40 million over four years. I think it is fine for the plyers to recieve some pay because it is their job, but if we cut everyone back to league minimum (which is still too much in my opinion) then I think the game would be more interesting. Maybe not.

its close but most D-1AA schools are as good as D-II schools and a BCS team(Pitt) this year almost lost to one of those schools, furman.

I think Div 2 and Div 3 should get more coverage. Div 3 gets 0 scholarships for football players. Those guys play because they enjoy playing, not to pay for school or for the hope of a big$ NFL career.

Furman is a Div 2 team that has beat 'BSC' conference schools in recent years. Look at UCONN... they just moved up to Div 1 and they did pretty darn good, including a bowl game win.

Actually, UConn was already a Division I-AA team. They just moved up to Division I-A. There's a big difference between I-AA and II.