Last week, we discussed the divide between NCAA Division I’s Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. This weel, another level of college football comes into play — Division II.
Often forgotten between the excitement of Division I and the traditional small college feel of Division III, Division II consists of 168 teams. This number is considerably greater than both the FCS and FBS, which have around 120 teams each.
Each Division II team has a cap of the equivalent of 36 full scholarships, meaning about half of every team is not on scholarship. The large number of walk-ons gives rise to the official NCAA slogan, “I choose…Division II.”
Many notable players have come out of Division II and gone on to NFL success. Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones, San Diego Chargers running back Danny Woodhead and Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri are examples of current players who used their talents to rise from schools such as Chadron State College in Nebraska to glory on the Sunday gridiron.
One of these Division II institutions is West Virginia Wesleyan College, who will open their season Saturday evening at Rhodes Stadium against Elon University.
It is not uncommon to see FCS teams schedule a Division II opponent as part of their non-conference schedule. Though teams such as North Dakota State University and Eastern Washington University are trying to prove otherwise, the FCS-FBS matchups almost always result in a loss for the FCS team. To counter the tough road game, an FCS team will schedule a Division II team to provide a non-conference home game that they will be heavily favored in.
Last season, Elon faced off against West Virginia State University, a rival of West Virginia Wesleyan in the Mountain East Conference. (No, not the Mountain West. The Mountain East. Who knew?) In that game against the Yellow Jackets, Elon rolled to a 48-14 victory behind a 110-yard day from then-freshman running back Thuc Phan.
Elon has previously scheduled West Virginia Wesleyan as their Division II opponent. On Sept. 8, 2007, Elon defeated the Bobcats 59-16 at Rhodes Stadium in the home opener. Just like this season, Elon was coming off of a loss at an FBS team in the University of South Florida.
On paper, Elon is set up to pick up a win in front of their home fans. Just like with FCS-FBS matchups, though, upsets can occur. Those players, many of whom choose Division II, work just as hard for their success and will be motivated to play under the lights at Rhodes Stadium.