By Stewart Mandel
SI.com
May 13 2004

Imperfect attendance

Handful of schools' I-A standing threatened by empty seats

The day of reckoning has arrived for schools like Kent State and San
Jose State -- unless an 11th-hour effort saves them.

Stricter Division I-A membership standards, adopted by the NCAA in
2002, are set to take effect this season, most notably the
requirement that teams average at least 15,000 in home attendance
(actual, not paid). Though not yet formally adopted, the proposed
consequences for failing to meet the new standards would place a
team on probation the following season, including a postseason ban.
Failure to meet the standards a second straight season would drop a
team to I-AA.

Last year, 11 of Division I-A's 117 teams fell short of the
attendance mark, some by more than 4,000 per contest.

While there seems to be a general consensus that stricter membership
standards are a good idea -- other components include sponsoring at
least 16 sports and offering at least 200 athletic scholarships --
the attendance aspect is drawing criticism from those most likely to
be affected.

"The other criteria is very sound," said Kent State AD Laing
Kennedy, whose school averaged just 10,546 last season. "But the
attendance criteria is not grounded in academic principles, it's
grounded in entertainment principles, which is contrary to the
academic philosophy of NCAA leadership."

The threatened schools have found a receptive ear in NCAA president
Myles Brand, who had yet to take office at the time the new measures
were passed. At a meeting last month, the NCAA's Board of Directors,
which is comprised of presidents from every Division I conference,
reopened discussions about the standards.

"Some of the directors had philosophical questions whether
attendance, or lack thereof, demonstrates broad commitment to
athletics or not," said Steve Mallonee, the NCAA's Division I
governance liaison. "There's also concern about the severity of the
penalty when there are factors that can affect it, like weather in
the northern states, that schools have no control over."

No action was taken, but the board meets again in August, at which
point it could adopt emergency legislation to enact the proposed
penalties in time for the season. Potentially affected schools are
hoping the directors will delay implementation of the attendance
rule altogether to further consider the ramifications, something
they did previously for a rule that would have required schools to
schedule a minimum of five home games against I-A opponents.

"As the time has drawn near, some questions have to be asked," San
Jose State athletic director Chuck Bell said. "What is the data to
support this decision? There isn't any. They can come up with an
idea, but there isn't any data to say it needs to be 15,000. It's
strictly arbitrary."

Not so, says SEC Associate Commissioner Greg Sankey. Formerly
commissioner of the I-AA Southland conference, Sankey played a key
role in formulating the new standards, which were designed in part
to slow the rash of I-AA programs moving up to I-A, and made a
presentation to the Board of Directors explaining the rationale
behind the new requirements.

"There was a pretty long and thoughtful process that went into
coming up with those standards," Sankey said. "Attendance has always
been a part of I-A criteria, and a stadium component was developed
in the early '80s that said a I-A stadium must have 30,000 seats.
That being the historical presumption, the requirement was set at
half that size. And the statistics were that a small number of I-A
institutions fall below that line, while at the same time a small
number of I-AA institutions fall above that line."

Bell's school made the cut by a hair last season, averaging 15,080,
but much of that had to do with a unique season opener against
Grambling that drew 31,681. According to the rules, teams must
comply on an annual basis, so the Spartans would get no reprieve if
they slip back below 15,000 this season (they averaged 10,360 in
2002).

"If we didn't have I-A football, the WAC wouldn't let us stay," Bell
said. "You're talking about the demise of your entire athletic
program for what amounts to a parking ticket. The NCAA hasn't handed
out sanctions like that for the most egregious violations."

With their fate as yet undetermined, some schools are devising
creative ways to help reach 15,000. The Sun Belt's Louisiana-Monroe,
which last year averaged just 11,298, has scheduled a "home" game
with Arkansas -- in Little Rock. Kent State and Akron moved their
traditional rivalry game, which in the past was often the same day
as the Ohio State-Michigan game, to September.

Still, there are some things that are out of their control.

"We feel pretty good about our chances of making it," said Sun Belt
commissioner Wright Waters, most of whose schools are on tenuous
ground. "Unless a hurricane moves through one weekend."

12-game schedules may be here to stay

No formal legislation has been proposed, but momentum is building
for a permanent 12-game regular season. Discussions on the topic
came up at the BCS meetings in Phoenix last month and continue
informally among athletic directors and commissioners.

NCAA rules allow for 12 games only in years when the calendar falls
a certain way, as it did in 2002 and '03. Speculation has long held
that once schools became accustomed to the revenue generated from an
extra game -- several million dollars for the nation's powerhouses --
they would not want to give it up. But the impetus for this
movement is the BCS, specifically the fear that TV dollars for the
presidents' proposed fifth BCS bowl game won't be enough to maintain
the current revenue share per team.

"I believe a 12th-regular season game is much more valuable to
college football than a fifth bowl game," Oklahoma AD Joe
Castiglione. "The idea hasn't been taken to the presidents, and
there may very well be strong dissenting opinions about that issue,
but as we discuss these ideas among a large number of ADs, it's a
concept that's gaining more favor."

To make the concept a reality, a conference, most likely the Big 12,
would have to enter a formal proposal to the NCAA by this summer in
order to come to a vote next year. If passed, it could be
implemented as early as 2006, or perhaps 2008 when the next
scheduled 12-game season occurs.

Another BCS model on the table

In an interview with the Arlington (Ill.) Daily Herald, Big Ten
commissioner Jim Delany, considered by many the most influential
figure in college football, said he was not in favor of adding a
fifth BCS bowl and insinuated he and his colleagues were pressured
into it by a coalition of schools, led by Tulane president Scott
Cowen, seeking greater access to the major bowls.

"It was an effective p.r. effort by the Cowen group, I don't think
there's any doubt about that," Delany said. "All things being equal,
we wouldn't have gone to a fifth bowl. ... Although we were moving
in an evolutionary way toward more inclusion, whether we would have
gotten to this point, I doubt it. I think we were pushed to this
point."

Originally it was assumed that the BCS would invite an existing bowl
to become the fifth BCS game, but the four existing bowls aren't
thrilled at the prospect of waiting an extra year to host the
championship game, and university presidents are opposed to the so-
called "plus-one" game. In a new model discussed by commissioners at
a meeting in Chicago on Wednesday, there would still be five games
involving 10 different teams, but one of the four existing cities
would host two games, one of them, the championship, held a week
later than the others.

BCS officials also reportedly finalized their revised rankings
system for selecting the No. 1 and 2 teams. According to the Atlanta
Journal Constitution, the formula will have three equally weighted
components -- the AP poll, the coaches poll and the average of seven
computer polls -- while eliminating three other components: strength
of schedule, losses and quality wins. Previously, the two human
polls combined to account for just 25 percent of the overall formula.

Worth noting

The expanded ACC did better than expected in its new contract with
ABC and ESPN, announced Wednesday. The seven-year deal was reported
by USA Today to be worth about $37 million per season, up from about
$23 million currently, enough to increase each school's share
despite the addition of three more teams. The deal includes rights
to a conference championship game worth $6 million, beginning in
2005, increased Thursday night telecasts and an annual Labor Day
primetime telecast, which this year and next will be Miami-Florida
State. ... Conference USA's decision last week to invite UTEP will
leave Louisiana Tech as the only WAC team in the Central time zone
come 2005. The Sun Belt, which is looking to add another team this
summer, is trying to lure the Bulldogs, but the WAC could also
invite North Texas. ... Virginia is off to a roaring start in
recruiting for next year. Nine months before signing day, the
Cavaliers have 13 commitments.