Schools and conferences that compete at this level sponsor football, however, they are not typically seen on major national television. Teams and conferences have television rights, but the revenue produced from these agreements is significantly smaller than that at the FBS levels. Football teams qualify for a 16-team post-season tournament based on their performance. Teams at this level do not participate in post-season bowl games. Outside of football, teams and conferences compete with others within the NCAA Division I structure. Teams and conferences at this level are perhaps best known for beating top-tier teams in the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, and possibly representing Tournament Cinderella’s .
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.