Schools and conferences in this competition group have television rights, and teams are frequently seen on television. However, the revenue produced at this level is significantly lower than that at the Power Five level. Schools and conferences fall under the NCAA’s traditional decision-making model. Like Power Five, schools competing at this level also qualify for post-season bowls based on their performance, with a four-team tournament (within the bowl system) deciding the national champion. It should be noted that for the vast majority of schools competing at this level, the payouts they receive from bowl game appearances is significantly lower than that of Power Five schools due to conference/bowl game agreements, and to date, no team from a Non-Power Five conference has been invited to the four-team national championship tournament. Sports other than football at this level compete with other teams and conferences in the NCAA Division I competition level.
Published in Chapter:
Out-Group Treatment in Higher Education: Using Rivalry to Allow Student Comparison of In-Group and Out-Group Members in NCAA Competition Divisions
Cody T. Havard (The University of Memphis, USA), Timothy T. Ryan (The University of Memphis, USA), and Skylar S. Workman (The University of Memphis, USA)
Copyright: © 2019
|Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-8125-3.ch003
Abstract
The chapter investigates differences in the ways college students compare to out-groups using the different NCAA competition divisions. In particular, students enrolled at schools in all six (i.e., Power Five, Group of Five, FCS, DI No Football, DII, DIII) reported their perceptions of rival school's athletics teams using the Sport Rivalry Fan Perception Scale (SRFPS). Differences were found regarding student perceptions among competition divisions. Specifically, attendance at a Power Five School influenced student's willingness to support rival teams against other teams, the enjoyment from defeating the rival team, perceptions of rival academic prestige and fan behavior, and likelihood of experiencing Glory Out of Reflected Failure (GORFing), or celebrating when the rival experiences indirect failure. Further, students attending DI No Football Schools and DIII Schools chose academic prestige as a way to derogate their rival schools. Discussion focuses on implications to higher education and avenues for future research.