Why Doesn’t Binghamton University Have a Football Team?

I had an interesting conversation recently with an acquaintance from out of the area about local sports, and how the Greater Binghamton area is rich in that department, from little leagues to amateur, middle, and high schools, colleges, and professional levels of sports of all kinds.

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That certainly is a fact, and no matter what the sport, those of us who hail from the Southern Tier are passionate about our local sports teams.

To have professional baseball and hockey here is something many communities across the county would love to have, but don't. Our school sporting events are filled with devoted fans, as are youth sports.

Our area is even home to a Little League World Series championship team (2016 Mane-Endwell.) Both our colleges - Binghamton University and SUNY Broome are loaded with all kinds of sports teams from baseball to basketball to softball and everything in between.

But one question that came up was, why doesn't Binghamton University, a D1 school, boast a football team? I had to chuckle at first because it reminded me of those t-shirts I've seen for sale in the past stating 'Bearcats Football Undefeated since 1946'.

Anyway, I don't quite know why there never was a football program developed at Binghamton University. I suppose at this point it would be way too expensive, plus there's the issue of where they would play their games - build a stadium or use an existing high school field.

Building a stadium would be expensive. Maybe the existing sports complex fields would be adequate for a football team or the track and field stadium.

And would there even be enough interest for players to come to Binghamton University for a football program? Would the campus community support a team? How about the community? The basketball and baseball teams do get support from the school and local community.

Also, what league would the team be a part of, if any? Several other SUNY colleges have a football program. These are the schools currently with football teams according to the SUNY Education website:

NCAA Divison I
University of Albany
Buffalo University
University at Stony Brook

NCAA Division III
Alfred State College
Alfred University
University of Brockport
Buffalo State University
SUNY Cortland
Maritime College
SUNY Morrisville

NJCAA III
Erie Community College
Hudson Valley Community College
Nassau Community College

Maybe a team could play at one of those levels. But, if it were to come to fruition, would you support a Binghamton University football program? Or is it best to just remain undefeated since 1946?