Post by FIUFanatic on Aug 7, 2004 7:55:35 GMT -5
A new, more clarifying article on the new attendance requrements issue in the NCAA was written on today's Sun Sentinel by Ted Hutton. He implies that, more likely than not, either the requirement will be softened or eliminated altogether come next August. Here's the link and a reproduction of the article:
www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-fauattend07aug07,0,2797414.story?coll=sfla-sports-front
FAU, FIU may not face attendance requirements to be in I-A division
By Ted Hutton
Staff Writer
Posted August 7 2004
While Myles Brand has done a lot to change the culture of the NCAA in his brief tenure as its president, sometimes it's hard to figure out what's going on.
That is the case with the rules now in place regarding membership in Division I football.
And that is making things tough for Florida Atlantic and Florida International, the only two schools in the country starting the two-year transition from I-AA to I-A, and thus the two schools who could be the first to be impacted by the rules.
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors decided Thursday that the football rules they had been reviewing all summer would stand. But the board also said the rules would be under review for another year, with changes possible next August.
The rules were adopted in 2003 and were designed to make it tougher for schools to move up to I-A and weed out the weakest I-A schools.
But ever since the rules were adopted, many schools and conferences have been lobbying to have the rules weakened or thrown out altogether.
The result is that the rules are still there, but the underpinnings have been worn away, leaving them vulnerable and likely to cave in.
But until that happens, FAU and FIU will need to average 15,000 in actual attendance this season, along with providing a minimum of 200 scholarships in its athletic program.
Everyone is saying the right things in wake of Thursday's vote.
"We're going full throttle to meet the standards," FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos said
"Personally and as a conference, we are confident both [FIU and FAU] will meet the criteria and believe ultimately football in the Sun Belt will be well-served by the criteria," Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters said.
FAU and FIU will be joining the Sun Belt in 2005. The Sun Belt has the most to lose if the standards stay in place, since five of its teams did not average 15,000 fans last year.
But the Sun Belt loses three members in 2005, which is why FAU and FIU were invited to join, since a conference must have eight members to be in I-A.
So Waters and the Sun Belt have a lot riding on the successful transition of FAU and FIU from I-AA to I-A and that current members that don't make the 15,000 cutoff won't be reclassified.
Signs that the NCAA will not be kicking out teams came in a carefully worded statement by Board Chairman Richard Hemenway.
"While there was recognition that I-A criteria is in place, there will be continued analysis review from perspective of the new environment we find ourselves in," said Hemenway, adding that the NCAA would be studying legal ramifications of the rules.
That new environment includes all the recent conference shuffling and Brand's emphasis on serving and supporting student athletes.
Eleven teams did not average 15,000 last year and that number could rise to as many as 20 or more since the new rules are based on actual attendance, not tickets sold, which is what many schools based attendance on.
Twenty less I-A teams would mean 440 fewer scholarships for football players and fewer scholarships for other athletes, especially women, since those 20 schools would no longer have to offer 200.
It is doubtful Brand would allow that to happen, nor would current members or their fans go quietly, and that could include lawsuits.
So come this time next year, the rules will either be gone or significantly weakened, and FAU and FIU will be on their way to I-A and the Sun Belt.
There was another sign that there is not much will in the NCAA to strictly enforce the attendance rule. Originally an outside auditor was supposed to be used to verify attendance beginning this season.
But citing the cost, the NCAA quietly voted to change that provision and now each school is allowed to audit its own attendance.
Ted Hutton can be reached at thutton@sun-sentinel.com
www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-fauattend07aug07,0,2797414.story?coll=sfla-sports-front
FAU, FIU may not face attendance requirements to be in I-A division
By Ted Hutton
Staff Writer
Posted August 7 2004
While Myles Brand has done a lot to change the culture of the NCAA in his brief tenure as its president, sometimes it's hard to figure out what's going on.
That is the case with the rules now in place regarding membership in Division I football.
And that is making things tough for Florida Atlantic and Florida International, the only two schools in the country starting the two-year transition from I-AA to I-A, and thus the two schools who could be the first to be impacted by the rules.
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors decided Thursday that the football rules they had been reviewing all summer would stand. But the board also said the rules would be under review for another year, with changes possible next August.
The rules were adopted in 2003 and were designed to make it tougher for schools to move up to I-A and weed out the weakest I-A schools.
But ever since the rules were adopted, many schools and conferences have been lobbying to have the rules weakened or thrown out altogether.
The result is that the rules are still there, but the underpinnings have been worn away, leaving them vulnerable and likely to cave in.
But until that happens, FAU and FIU will need to average 15,000 in actual attendance this season, along with providing a minimum of 200 scholarships in its athletic program.
Everyone is saying the right things in wake of Thursday's vote.
"We're going full throttle to meet the standards," FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos said
"Personally and as a conference, we are confident both [FIU and FAU] will meet the criteria and believe ultimately football in the Sun Belt will be well-served by the criteria," Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters said.
FAU and FIU will be joining the Sun Belt in 2005. The Sun Belt has the most to lose if the standards stay in place, since five of its teams did not average 15,000 fans last year.
But the Sun Belt loses three members in 2005, which is why FAU and FIU were invited to join, since a conference must have eight members to be in I-A.
So Waters and the Sun Belt have a lot riding on the successful transition of FAU and FIU from I-AA to I-A and that current members that don't make the 15,000 cutoff won't be reclassified.
Signs that the NCAA will not be kicking out teams came in a carefully worded statement by Board Chairman Richard Hemenway.
"While there was recognition that I-A criteria is in place, there will be continued analysis review from perspective of the new environment we find ourselves in," said Hemenway, adding that the NCAA would be studying legal ramifications of the rules.
That new environment includes all the recent conference shuffling and Brand's emphasis on serving and supporting student athletes.
Eleven teams did not average 15,000 last year and that number could rise to as many as 20 or more since the new rules are based on actual attendance, not tickets sold, which is what many schools based attendance on.
Twenty less I-A teams would mean 440 fewer scholarships for football players and fewer scholarships for other athletes, especially women, since those 20 schools would no longer have to offer 200.
It is doubtful Brand would allow that to happen, nor would current members or their fans go quietly, and that could include lawsuits.
So come this time next year, the rules will either be gone or significantly weakened, and FAU and FIU will be on their way to I-A and the Sun Belt.
There was another sign that there is not much will in the NCAA to strictly enforce the attendance rule. Originally an outside auditor was supposed to be used to verify attendance beginning this season.
But citing the cost, the NCAA quietly voted to change that provision and now each school is allowed to audit its own attendance.
Ted Hutton can be reached at thutton@sun-sentinel.com
