UC Davis Athletics Joining Mountain West - Football to Follow I THINK, there are two separate rules at play. Once you actually transfer divisions there is a two (?) year waiting period before you are eligible for FBS post season play. Not sure that rules apply to conference changes within the division. Obviously not much if you are remaining in the same division but only changing conferences. Look at Oregon and SMU. Also applies to FBS non-palyooff bowl games....see Cal, USC...
There is another rule, cited several times in threads on this board, which says that a team moving from FCS to FBS is ineligible for FCS post season playoffs at the moment the NCAA is notified of the intent to move.
In other words, if UCD football announces now that they are going to move to FBS, they are ineligible to compete in the FCS post season in 2025....AND then are ineligible to compete in the FBS post season in 2026 and 2027.
If they wait until after the 2025 season to announce a move they at least can compete in the 2025 FCS post-season, assuming they are selected.