If kids really cared about playing for FCS championships, then they would be choosing FCS schools over Sun Belt, MAC, Mountain West, and Big East schools. This does not happen because those kids would rather lose at the highest level than win at a level that is completely irrelevant. You aren't doing those kids a favor by dropping them down to a lower level and then letting them play in some playoff of losers for a "national championship".
But the problem is that D1 is too bloated, and they've made it such a huge umbrella that schools with no business competing at this level are doing so.
Look at the database (
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/story/2012-05-14/ncaa-college-athletics-finances-database/54955804/1) and sort by subsidy. Look at the asinine amount of schools taking millions from the university to fund D1 athletic departments. Louisville was/is the most successful non-Power 5 school (at this moment), and they take an 11.5% subsidy. After them? UConn. Then, at third, Fresno St. pops in with a 27.8% subsidy. Boise St. is right after them.
To compete at this "highest level" public schools are passing millions over to athletic departments just to compete at the mid-major level. We've reached a point, right or wrong, where we're reaching a critical mass between these subsidies and secondary education funding. The cat is out of the bag, and there's no turning back now.
At this point, honestly, the best thing is for those schools that can sustain this kind of level be allowed to do so, and those that can't should be relegated down to a division where they aren't forcing public universities to send millions to the AD to support an unsustainable athletic department. For example, in 2011, UMKC made about $1.5 million in ticket sales, donations, conference distribution, and licensing. They spent over $11 million dollars. Even though they took over $7.2 million in student fees and university money that year, they still had a $2 million shortfall. There is absolutely no reason why UMKC should be in the same NCAA division as KSU. Hell, we took almost $5 million LESS from students and the university than they did. And we have a BCS football program for Christ's sakes.
Look, I get that people take issue with college athletics losing it's soul to the almighty dollar. But so many of these schools can't pay their bills. For those that can, they need to be allowed to govern themselves and write rules that are best for their institutions, and those that can't afford to keep up with them need to be creating associations and making decisions based on their ability to properly fund athletics.
