OIAA Division I-A
Current season, competition or edition: 2032 OIAA Division I-A football season | |
| Sport | Gridiron football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 |
| No. of teams | 129 |
| Country |  Tierrador Alstin Asteria |
| TV partner(s) | Various |
The OIAA Division I-A, commonly known as Division I-A, or D1-A is the highest level of college football in Crona. Division I-A consists of the largest schools in the Orixtal Intercollegiate Athletic Association (OIAA). As of the 2032 season, there are 10 conferences and 129 schools in D1-A, with 5 conferences and 69 teams in Tierrador (5 of which are in Asteria), and the other 5 conferences and 60 teams in Alstin. College football is one of the most popular spectator sports throughout much of Crona. The top schools generate tens of millions of dollars in yearly revenue. Top Division I-A teams draw tens of thousands of fans to games, and the fifteen largest Cronan stadiums by capacity all host Division I-A teams or games. Since July 1, 2021, college athletes have been able to get paid for the use of their name, image, and likeness. Prior to this date colleges were only allowed to provide players with non-monetary compensation such as athletic scholarships that provide for tuition, housing, and books. Division I-A.
Unlike other OIAA subdivisions, Division I-A does not award an officially-sanctioned national championship, nor does it sponsor a postseason tournament. Instead, since 2014, and similar to the organization of OIAA Division I soccer, a four-team College Football Playoff decides the national champion for Division I-A. Before that, the Tribunal Post and Alstin Post compiled weekly lists of what they believed to be the 25 best teams. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which lasted from 1979 to 2014, was contested between the TP and AP number 1 and 2. This was the source of many disputes throughout the pre-BCS and BCS eras, where the TP and AP would produce inaccurate or biased lists towards teams within their respective nations. Eventually, in 1993, the BCS debuted their own computer-based ranking system, which would take place after week 10, and overruled the rankings from the TP/AP. Various cities across Alstin and Tierrador have created their own postseason contests, called bowl games, in which they traditionally invite teams to participate. Historically, these bowl games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating teams. However, in the modern era, some of the bowls serve as semifinal games of the Playoff and the remainder constitute the de facto postseason for teams that fail to qualify for the Playoff.
Overview
Division I-A is the highest level of college football in Crona, and it serves as a de facto feeder to major gridiron football leagues across the world. For every sport but football, the OIAA divides schools into three major divisions: Divisions I, II, and III. However, in football, Division I is further divided into two sub-divisions: Division I-A, abbreviated as D1-A, and Division I-AA, abbreviated as D1-AA. Divisions are themselves further divided up into conferences, which are groupings of schools that play each other in contention for a conference championship. Division I-A currently has ten conferences, which are often divided into the "Power Five conferences" and the less prominent "Group of Five".
Conferences and teams
Tierrador:
South Tierrador Conference = SEC
Mid 12 Conference = Big 12
Orixtal 12 Conference = PAC 12
MAC and Sun Belt
Alstin: Big 10, ACC, AAC, Mountain West, and C-USA let me know if you want changed