The Sports Operator

The national home for programs outside the spotlight.

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

The biggest programs in college sports already have thousands of people covering them.

I’m more interested in the programs that don’t.

FCS.
G5.
Mid-major basketball.
Underrated coaches.
Fan bases that deserve more attention.

The Sports Operator is about the programs outside the spotlight.

If that sounds like your kind of sports page, follow along.

[Dustin Helton @TheRevSFA]

12:45 central today.

Yeah that time is weird, but then again, so is FCS football.

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@605inMN @MercerFootball You’re right! I appreciate the correction!

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

Mercer might be one of the most overlooked programs in the FCS right now.

11 wins last season.
Preseason Top 15.
Picked to win the SoCon.

And somehow, they still don’t get talked about like a real national threat.

@MercerFootball fans — are the Bears being slept on again?

Because this looks like a program that’s getting awfully close to kicking the door down.

#RoarTogether #FCSFootball

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

South Dakota fans made one thing clear: they’re tired of being treated like an afterthought.

A 10-5 season.
An FCS quarterfinal run.
A rivalry win over South Dakota State.

Maybe it’s time more people started paying attention to what @SDCoyotesFB is building.

Coyote fans — is this one of the most overlooked teams in the FCS?

#GoYotes #MVFC

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@ItsThumper76 Correction: Mercer was 9–3 last season, not 11 wins. The 11-win season was 2024.

And yes — South Dakota absolutely handled them 47–0 in the playoffs.

Good catch. That’s exactly why I want more FCS fans in these replies.

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@TheRevSFA Correction: Mercer was 9–3 last season, not 11 wins. The 11-win season was 2024.

And yes — South Dakota absolutely handled them 47–0 in the playoffs.

Good catch. That’s exactly why I want more FCS fans in these replies.

Appreciate it!

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@BrandonFalco121 The only struggle here is for the threads holding that shirt together

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@shegone03 Exactly! Act like you’ve been there before.

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@shegone03 @MLB If that did happen, we’d follow it up with one between the numbers for the next guy.

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@Seth_3773 He should’ve been tossed immediately for the outfit he put together that morning.

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

Tarleton State isn’t some cute FCS story anymore.

The Texans went 12–2 last season, won a share of the UAC, reached the FCS quarterfinals, and averaged more than 20,000 fans at home. (Tarleton State University Athletics)

Now the question changes:

How far can @TarletonFB actually take this thing?

Because Stephenville is starting to look a lot less like an emerging program and a lot more like a legitimate FCS contender.

Texan fans — what does the rest of the FCS still underestimate about Tarleton State?

#TexanNation #FCSFootball

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@Sammy_Agee Same thing happened to me the last oil change. The shop had change the cabin filter the previous oil change, then it was suddenly dirty again. I told them that and crickets.

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

@ShannonTheDude The hamstrings

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

The Big Sky gets talked about like it belongs to Montana and Montana State.

Idaho fans probably have something to say about that.

@VandalFootball has rebuilt itself into a real FCS threat, and the Kibbie Dome gives them one of the most unique home-field identities in the country.

This program is not an afterthought.

Vandal fans — what does the rest of the FCS still underestimate about Idaho?

#GoVandals #BigSkyFB

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

College football talks a lot about tradition.

It doesn’t talk enough about programs that built theirs without a Power-conference logo.

Marshall is one of them.

A proud fan base.
A real football identity.
A place where the program actually means something to the community.

@HerdFB doesn’t need national media permission to matter.

Herd fans — what’s the one thing people outside Huntington never understand about Marshall football?

#WeAreMarshall #GoHerd

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

East Carolina might have one of the most underrated fan bases in college football.

This is a program that has never needed a national ranking to have a national-level atmosphere.

Pirate Nation shows up.

The identity is real.
The expectations are real.
And Greenville is one of those places nobody wants to walk into casually.

@ECUPiratesFB fans — what does the rest of college football still not understand about ECU?

#PirateNation #ECUFootball

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

Everybody’s talking about Montana State right now.

Fair enough.

But it feels like people are starting to forget there’s another heavyweight in the state.

@MontanaGrizFB has one of the proudest fan bases, best atmospheres and strongest football identities in the FCS.

The Griz aren’t going anywhere.

Montana fans — has the national conversation gotten a little too comfortable crowning the Cats?

#GoGriz #FCSFootball

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

Suffered through a miscarriage during this time after my wife, a nurse practitioner, was basically forced into the shot while working at a nursing home. We lost our baby during the first trimester. It was devastating and still is bc that’s the only time we’ve been able to get pregnant in our 11 year marriage. I don’t see how this isn’t murder if you knew the statistics.

[The Sports Operator @TheSportsOp]

There’s no shortage of coverage for the biggest brands in college football.

I’m more interested in the programs building something real without getting enough attention for it.

App State. Montana State. Marshall. JMU. FCS. G5.

If that’s your kind of football content, follow @TheSportsOp.

#FCSFootball #CollegeFootball