Teams and conferences competing at this level do not sponsor football. Most teams at this level are best-known for their men’s and women’s basketball teams, or non-revenue sports such as women’s volleyball, men’s baseball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and women’s softball. Student-athletes competing in this classification still receive financial assistance in the form of scholarships. Teams and conferences at this level are perhaps best known for making deep runs in the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, with several receiving media praise and favorable seeds in post-season tournaments. Schools in this division can also compete in conferences at the FCS, Non-Power Five, or even Power-Five levels in sports other than football. However, it shoud be noted that no non-football school currently competes in a Power Five Conference. Schools and conferences at this level can be seen on national television, depending on performance and media/public interest.
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.