FBS vs. FCS and why their autobid makes sense

First is the disparity in resources. In the FCS, most teams have the same resources. James Madison spends the most on football each year: $2.7 million. Most FCS teams are spending around $1 million a year on their football programs. They're all on the same playing field. Same is true with the NFL, they all have the same salary cap and they all make the same money from TV revenue.

FBS is totally different. For comparison, Utah State spends around $13 million on its football program. Baylor spends around $35 million per year, while Alabama spends around $60 million. This is a HUGE difference. So sure, in the FCS, they have autoqualifiers. But the teams winning the conferences are all playing with the same resources. Baylor has $22 million per year to play with than Utah State does. That leads to better coaches, facilities, and recruiting. In short, this leads to better teams. So, the big money teams (P5) all have these advantages that will help them have better teams. Is this unfair? Sure. But that's the way it is.

Second big disparity is recruiting. Again, FCS teams are all recruiting about the same level. They're getting the same 2*, maybe 3* guys that FBS teams didn't want. It's a level playing field. In the FBS, it's totally different. Utah State has had exactly one 4* player in their recruiting history (in 2004). They have had zero 5* players. Alabama has fifteen 4* guys committed this year and five 5* guys. LSU had 10 guys drafted last year. Utah State has had 9 drafted since 2013.

The P5 conferences are full of these teams, with huge recruiting advantages and huge resource advantages. Like it or not, these things lead to better teams. Can a G5 team occasionally pull off an upset? Sure. But it doesn't happen often. And it takes a legitimately elite G5 team to do so, not an 8-4 Northern Illinois. Because when they played Michigan that year, they lost 63-10, with their one TD coming in garbage time. It takes a truly special season for a G5 team to beat an elite P5 team, and we should 100% let in the one (MAYBE 2) G5 teams every year that might have a shot. But there is no way we should let every G5 conference champion in.

College Basketball vs. College Football

Remember all the advantages above, because they're important here.  Football and basketball are very different (not just the shape of the ball, believe it or not).  In basketball, you have 5 guys on the court, and maybe 9 total players that actually contribute.  In football, you have 22 starters, plus the two deep.  You're looking at around 35 guys that contribute to the game. 

We know that G5 schools can produce elite players.  But it's usually one or two legitimately elite guys every year.  When a smaller school has an elite player in basketball, they make a huge difference (see Jimmer Fredette, Steph Curry, etc.).  One guy can make a huge difference when there are only four other guys on the court with him.  In football, it's not the same.  Look at Patrick Mahomes in his last year at Texas Tech.  He went 5-7.  Two years later, he was the NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP.  Elite players make less of an impact on a football team than on a basketball team because they depend so much on the guys around them.

In essence, it's easier to find 5 solid guys than it is to find 22 solid guys.  Individual players can make a huge impact in basketball, but they can't in football.  So when you have one elite guy, surrounded by a bunch of 3* guys playing against LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, etc., they're pretty screwed.  Can there be one cinderella team that knocks of a powerhouse? Yes.  But they're not the G5 teams that are losing 3 or 4 C-USA or MWC games.