Wikipedia talk:WikiProject College football/Major vs small college compendium

Discussion

Thanks for starting this. It appears that (at least as of 1958, per this source) it was the Football Writers Association of America who decided which teams were "major". Which doesn't negate anything reported by the NCAA Service Bureau, but we should be careful not to say it was the NCAA Service Bureau making the "major" determination (akin to how the NCAA has never named a Division I-A / FBS champion, but they do report champions named by "recognized" selectors). Dmoore5556 (talk) 00:56, 7 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's not clear that FWAA was the only organization making a "major" classification in 1958. I will see what I can find on that. But putting that aside, and focusing on the pre-1958 years, I'd always understood from my research that the Service Bureau did make determinations as to which programs were major. If it wasn't them, then who was it? Cbl62 (talk) 01:59, 7 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

FWAA was still making "major" determinations as of the late 1960s, at least per this source (start near bottom of left-hand column). I am not familiar with when the FWAA got into, and eventually out of, making such determinations. I'll keep an eye out for more on this. Dmoore5556 (talk) 03:07, 7 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This article from 1951 speaks of the FWAA making "major" determinations (Cincinnati being a team in question). To what degree this was followed, considered, or ignored by the NCAA Service Bureau is unclear. Dmoore5556 (talk) 03:13, 7 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

As we continue to dig, let's try to bring some clarity to this. Thanks for jumping in. Cbl62 (talk) 19:38, 7 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]