Possible Solution for Real Life Custom Schedules

[brooks_piggott]

They still will show up on leaderboards, etc. but it should be somewhat rare if they're all just 1 star players. Bowl slots should be rare too if you're only giving them 4 games. It's about the best compromise I have.

[Vegas Vic]

They still will show up on leaderboards, etc. but it should be somewhat rare if they're all just 1 star players. Bowl slots should be rare too if you're only giving them 4 games. It's about the best compromise I have.

Understood. If they only play a maximum of 4 games, not many of their players should be winning national awards like the Heisman Trophy, etc. Their leading rusher will probably have something like 500 yards for the season. As for the bowl games, I would hope it would be nearly impossible for one of those teams to get an at-large bid, as they would have a maximum of four wins (probably more like zero wins since all four of their games will be against FBS schools). Since the original 130 FBS teams will no longer be cannibalizing each other’s records by playing all 12 games against each other, there should be even more of them who become bowl eligible under this format.

[Vegas Vic]

So far, my testing appears to be yielding promising results. What I did was sim a few seasons with the default NCAA file and exported the schedules. Then, I created a test custom league with the exact same FBS setup, and added two FCS teams, Western Carolina and Virginia Military Institute. I imported the 2020 schedule that the default league created, and that schedule file had my NC State team scheduled to play Ohio State late in the season, just before our rivalry game with UNC and Ohio State's rivalry game with Michigan. So I replaced Ohio State with FCS Western Carolina and gave the Buckeyes a game against FCS Virginia Military Institute (VMI). We beat WCU 63-35, and the Buckeyes destroyed the Keydets 83-3.

I'm going to continue with the testing to see how the recruiting goes. At first glance, it looks like they might be getting too many good players, although I have the prestige for WCU and VMI set at 25.

[Vegas Vic]

Checking back in as I continue various testing…..
Looks good so far. I’m gradually adding more FCS teams to the fold to see what impact they have on the overall universe. Here’s a snapshot of Week 13 from the 2022 season:
It’s “Cupcake Saturday” in the ACC! The original saved schedule from the default setup had Florida State playing Miami in Week 12, then playing away at #1 Oregon in Week 13, followed by their annual rivalry game against Florida to close out the season. Of course, in real life there’s no way this would happen. How about a tune-up game against the Kennesaw State Owls instead? Oregon also gets a breather against Eastern Washington before their annual game with Oregon State.
Louisville also gets a breather, whipping up on the Chattanooga Mocs to become bowl eligible.

As for my NC State Wolfpack, I don’t think it’s a good idea (or realistic) to travel to #4 LSU to get slaughtered prior to our annual rivalry game against UNC. So we get the Campbell Fighting Camels to make the short trip up to Raleigh instead.


Lastly, Virginia Tech finds out that perennial FCS powerhouse James Madison means business, as the Hokies have to rally in the fourth quarter to secure the win against the Dukes.



I am seeing some upsets along the way, as happens in real life. Mostly, lower tier Power Five teams and Group of Five. So far, I haven’t seen what I would consider an elite FBS team lose yet to an FCS team.

I’ll continue with the testing and report back on what I see long term, especially as I add more FCS teams. I want to see what the maximum number of them I can add without upsetting the overall stability of this universe.

[WarEagle13]

Interesting stuff. Looking forward to seeing more

[Vegas Vic]

This test run also got me thinking about the feasibility of doing an entire standalone FCS mod (not co-mingled with the FBS teams). I don't think the game supports it, because the FCS uses a 16-team playoff with some automatic qualifiers for conference champions. The old "Bowl Bound College Football" game had the flexibility for a 16-team playoff, and in the conference tables you could check which conferences got automatic bids, and any remaining seeds would be the highest ranked at-large teams.