Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 17, 1993 TAG: 9312170079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sorry, that isn't the burning question in college football these days. What everyone from administrators to coaches really wants to know is: Who will be playing where and when? This isn't about conferences, but how the NCAA may realign or add to its four football divisions.
There are 106 Division I-A programs now. If reclassification occurs - and the subject is well into the discussion stage - that number could shrink to about 80-85. Division I-AA could split along scholarship lines. The little guys of I-A could join with the haves of I-AA in a grouping.
The rest of I-AA - which expanded to 115 teams this season with the addition of former Division III football members who were playing Division I basketball (Dayton, etc.) - could be in another group with several Division II schools.
The NCAA isn't quite sure how it will draw the lines. Athletic budgets could be one factor. Scholarships could be another, as they are now. Home attendance, a factor in I-A membership, figures in proposals as well.
While the realignment probably can't happen immediately - and maybe won't happen until the dust settles from the impending movement in conference affiliation - two proposals on the legislative agenda for January's NCAA Convention may have an immediate impact on I-AA membership. One would trim the I-AA football scholarship maximum from 63 to 45. Another is a less-drastic cut, to 55 grants-in-aid.
Either or neither could become the rule, and whatever happens will have an impact on five state schools - VMI, Liberty, William and Mary, James Madison and Richmond - that play I-AA football.
If a limit of 45 or 55 scholarships passes, the gap between I-A and I-AA would widen, making games between teams in those divisions likely massacres. That hurts VMI and other I-AA schools that count on revenue of at least $100,000 from an annual game against a I-A foe.
At the other end of the Southern Conference from the Keydets is Marshall, which will play in its third consecutive NCAA Division I-AA championship game Saturday against Youngstown State. The Thundering Herd is 29-1 at 28,000-seat MU Stadium, where it seeks its 11th consecutive playoff victory in the title game.
If I-AA cuts scholarships, the Southern Conference could splinter. "I think there are four or five schools in the conference that would want to play up," said Marshall athletic director Lee Moon, a Roanoke native and VMI graduate. "I know we'd want to do that."
One of the I-A membership requirements is a home attendance average of 17,000 over a five-year period. This season, only Marshall (20,094) averaged more than 15,000 during the regular season among the nine Southern members. In the past five years, only Marshall and The Citadel have an average of 17,000 or more.
At the bottom of I-A, the Mid-American and Big West conferences and seven or eight independents could be headed for a new division if the NCAA realigns. Independents such as East Carolina, Southern Mississippi, Army and Navy are on the fence. The MAC, because it hasn't reached the 17,000 average for a majority of its members, may be dropped from I-A even without reclassification.
Marshall fits the MAC's geography, but after being kicked out of the Ohio-based league in the '70s, hard feelings that would prevent a reunion still linger among Herders. What might be more likely for the Huntington, W.Va., school would be a football league with a few SC teams, plus Delaware, W & M, Richmond, JMU, Villanova and Eastern Kentucky as possible members.
If the MAC and/or Big West drop to I-AA, there are going to be more than a few I-A teams scrambling to change schedules - because the NCAA requires six I-A victories to play in a bowl. Or, the NCAA reclassification plan might readdress the bowl-wins rule, allowing a school to count one victory against a toughened I-AA.
If the Southern Conference splits, VMI's competitive problem could be solved somewhat, and a reduced scholarship maximum would alleviate some of the Keydets' budget crunch. However, without revenue from a I-A guarantee, there will be less to spend, too.
You thought college football couldn't get any more confusing than the bowl coalition? Just wait.
by CNB