January

10 -- In his State of the Association address, NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey discusses the "race to litigate," in which special-interest groups disagree with the way in which higher education regulates its athletics programs. "These legal challenges are about much more than money," Dempsey says. "At stake in this pattern of litigation is a fundamental question about the Association's ability to implement the legislated desires of its member schools. If we believed these principles were important enough to put into legislation, we also must believe that they are important enough to defend against legal challenge."

11 -- Division II delegates at the NCAA Convention vote to retain the Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship even though its sponsorship is below the required minimum.

11 -- The Division II Presidents Council modifies Bylaw 31 by eliminating geography as a criterion for regional championship site determination.

11 -- Division III delegates vote to adopt an amended version of the Division III championships selection principles.

12 -- The Division I Board of Directors adopts Proposal No. 98-90, which allows schools to play a 12th regular-season football game during years in which there are 14 Saturdays from the first permissible playing date through the last playing date in November. The proposal also eliminates annual preseason exempted contests after the 2002 playing season.

Mike L. Racy is appointed to succeed Nancy L. Mitchell as Division II chief of staff. Mitchell, who has been with the Association since 1985, announced earlier that she would not relocate to Indianapolis with the national office staff in July.

18-19 -- The Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet agrees to hear reports in June on alternative proposals for initial-eligibility requirements and pre-enrollment amateurism issues.

23 -- The United States Supreme Court rules that the NCAA is not considered a recipient of federal funds just because it receives dues from member schools that do receive federal money.

The NCAA establishes a seven-person Baseball Research Panel charged with studying safety issues relating to baseball bats. The panel will be chaired by California State University, Fullerton, President Milton A. Gordon.

March

8 -- A U.S. district judge rules that the NCAA's initial-eligibility legislation (Proposition 16) has a disparate impact upon African-Americans. The Cureton v. NCAA ruling, however, does not preclude the NCAA from establishing initial-eligibility standards, nor does it prevent the Association from using standardized-test scores in forming such rules.

9 -- The NCAA and plaintiffs in the restricted-earnings coaches case announce a $54 million settlement agreement. The agreement is reached through mediation arranged by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The agreement more than doubles the $22 million in damages found by the jury in the case.

26 -- A U.S. district judge denies a motion by Adidas America Inc. for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the Association from enforcing a bylaw that limits the size of logos on uniforms.

30 -- The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals grants the NCAA's motion to stay the ruling in the Cureton case until the appeal is heard. The decision re-establishes Prop 16 to determine initial eligibility.

April

12-13 -- The Division I Management Council approves a revised legislative calendar for Division I in which the Council will consider and act on legislation only at its April and October meetings.

16 -- Louis J. Spry, one of the most senior members of the national office staff, retires after 32 years of service.

19 -- Track and field athletes Calvin Thigpen of the University of Mississippi and Gladys A. Ganiel from Providence College are named as recipients of the NCAA's Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarships.

20 -- The Division I Board of Directors approves a method of payment of the $54 million settlement in the restricted-earnings coaches case. The recommendation divides the allocation into three parts, including existing reserves, revenue-distribution funds and an equal payment from among the 310 Division I schools.

20 -- The Division II Presidents Council endorses a $250,000 diversity grant program designed to aid Division II conferences and institutions working to enhance gender and ethnic minority diversity.

The NCAA reaches an agreement with Easton Sports, a nonwood bat manufacturer, to indemnify NCAA schools and conferences against litigation involving injuries due to individuals being struck by batted balls propelled by Easton metal bats.

Marion B. Peavey, former vice-president for development and alumni relations at the University of Delaware, is hired as executive director of the NCAA Foundation.

May

3-6 -- The NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee rescinds the "held-ball" rule for the 1999-00 season.

31 -- The third annual NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference tips off with nearly 300 student-athletes in attendance. The focus for this year's conference is the development of student-athletes' personal leadership skills.

June

4 -- The Internal Revenue Service reverses an earlier opinion issued by its Dallas regional office that would not have allowed donations to support athletics facility renovation to be deductible if a guarantee to lease a skybox is provided in return.

8-9 -- The Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet calls for legislation to be developed that would change the administration of the Association's amateurism rules.

12 -- The NCAA Baseball Research Panel recommends that the batted-ball exit speed be adjusted for nonwood bats to one that equates to the highest average exit speed using Major League Baseball quality, 34-inch, solid wood bats.

18 -- The National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommends banning legal betting on collegiate and amateur athletics events, restricting legal gambling to those over age 21, and adopting a federal ban on Internet gambling.

29 -- Allison Beightol, a senior guard on the Randolph-Macon College women's basketball team, and Jarrett Erwin, a sophomore multisport competitor at Rice University, are honored as the 1999 NCAA Outstanding Sportspersons of the Year during the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance awards luncheon.

A study released by the General Accounting Office shows that male athletics participation has declined at NCAA institutions over the last decade. The study shows that participation by women increased by 16 percent during that period while participation by men declined by 12 percent.

July

5 -- The NCAA outsources its drug-testing program, which now will be administered by the National Center for Drug-Free Sport. The program will be administered by Frank D. Uryasz, former NCAA director of sports sciences, who announced he would not relocate to Indianapolis with the national office staff.

26-27 -- The Division I Management Council votes to eliminate the Strategic Planning and Business/Finance Cabinets and to delegate the duties previously performed by those bodies to other entities within the governance structure.

27 -- The NCAA christens its new headquarters as the first wave of staff members begins work at the Indianapolis office. The move, which was announced in May 1997, brings most of the membership geographically closer to the national office since about two-thirds of the membership is located east of the Mississippi River. The four-story, 140,000 square-foot building also will house the NCAA's new Hall of Champions.

August

5 -- The Division III Presidents Council sets the stage for the Division III membership to decide how to handle the nontraditional-season segment at the 2000 Convention by voting to sponsor legislation to eliminate competition in the nontraditional season, with the exception of tennis and golf. The Council chose from three options: no change in the current legislation; further study of the issue; or sponsorship of the legislation. The Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has recommended to retain the current legislation.

6 -- The NCAA Executive Committee approves an operating budget of $303.3 million for fiscal year 1999-00. The record budget represents an increase in revenue of 7.2 percent ($20.3 million), achieved primarily from scheduled increases in television rights fees.

26 -- A federal district court in Kansas dismisses a lawsuit by Adidas America Inc. that challenged NCAA limits on the size and number of logos on uniforms.

30 -- A study released by Alfred University reveals that 79 percent of student-athletes who responded to the survey have participated in initiations that have crossed the line into hazing.

The Association's latest Division I graduation-rates report shows that Division I student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student body, a trend that has held every year since Proposition 48 became effective with the 1986 freshman class. The rate for student-athletes (58 percent) was about 2 percent higher than the overall student-body rate.

September

19-22 -- The NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee initiates a policy stipulating that meets planned for the final 10 days of the championships qualifying period must be certified. The action is intended to regulate "last-chance meets," which have become susceptible to abuses in recent years.

22-23 -- The Division II Men's Basketball Committee selects Bakersfield, California; Evansville, Indiana; and Lakeland, Florida, to host the 2001, 2002 and 2003 Division II Men's Basketball Championships, respectively.

An account of NCAA membership reveals 1,260 active, provisional, conference, affiliated and corresponding members, including nine member schools that moved from provisional to active status. It marks the second consecutive year that the Association has reached an all-time high in membership. The total also is nearly double the 721 total registered just 30 years ago.

The NCAA Executive Committee approves a batted-ball exit speed standard of less than 97 miles per hour for bats used in all intercollegiate baseball competition among NCAA member schools. The Committee also announces that Easton Sports has dropped a lawsuit filed against the Association in August 1998.

The NCAA announces that the 1999 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, is sold out. It marks the first time in recent history that tickets for the event have sold out this early.

October

1 -- Donna J. Noonan, former NCAA director of championships, is promoted to vice-president for the Division I Women's Basketball Championship. Due to the growth of the women's basketball championship, the NCAA designated a staff solely to oversee administration of the event.

18-19 -- The Division I Management Council tables an amateurism deregulation package as a way to ensure a forum for membership debate and approves a basketball issues package to initiate the comment period without taking an official position on the package as a whole. Both actions set in motion a time line that would allow Division I members to provide comment and guidance before the Council would consider the issues again at its next legislative meeting in April.

19-20 -- The Divisions I, II and III Administrative Review Subcommittees agree to a number of changes that will affect how cases are considered in the future. The changes, which include requiring specific documentation in cases involving misinformation or inaccurate advice provided by an institutional staff member, or corroborating information in cases involving injury, illness or financial hardship, are designed to achieve greater consistency in the review process and address the ever-growing number of cases submitted by the membership.

25 -- Track and field standout Jamila Demby from the University of California, Davis, is named the 1999 NCAA Woman of the Year. Demby, an all-American in both the 1,600-meter relay and the 800 meters, was among 10 finalists selected from more than 300 nominations.

28 -- The Division I Board of Directors rescinds a waiver provision regarding the accommodation of championship schedules due to religious conflicts that had been in place for only one year.

The 1997-98 NCAA Gender-Equity Report indicates that women's athletics participation in Division I reached 40 percent for the first time, up from 37 percent in the 1995-96 study. The report also shows that expenses continue to favor men's sports in Division I, although a significant decrease was noted in the percentage of operating expenses allocated to men's sports.

November

9 -- Representatives from the NCAA and leaders from prominent sports organizations conduct a summit to address the enhancement of opportunities for minority women in college sports and athletics administration.

15 -- The NCAA releases an initial list of baseball bats that are in compliance for use beginning January 1, 2000. The bats were approved through the certification process approved by the NCAA Executive Committee in September.

18 -- The Association signs an $6 billion agreement with CBS Sports for the right to televise the Division I Men's Basketball Championship and other championship events. The deal also includes marketing opportunities related to all NCAA championships. The 11-year deal begins with the 2002-03 academic year and contains an average payout of $545 million per year. The agreement also contains financial-incentive opportunities for the NCAA and an option for the NCAA to renegotiate after eight years.

20 -- LaDainian Tomlinson, a running back at Texas Christian University, sets a Divisions I and II rushing record with 406 yards in 43 carries in a 52-24 win over the University of Texas at El Paso.

NCAA Basketball launches a promotional effort that includes a new fan-interactive Web site and several initiatives that will directly benefit NCAA member schools.

Roger Staubach, former star quarterback at the U.S. Naval Academy, is selected as the 33rd recipient of the Association's Theodore Roosevelt Award.

December

22 -- The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit overturns the March 8 Cureton ruling.

Williams College's John E. Berry Jr., a two-sport student-athlete who gave up his final year of eligibility in football to donate a kidney to his older brother, is the winner of the NCAA Special Award for Valor.

According to the annual NCAA Participation Statistics Report, the number of student-athletes participating in NCAA-sponsored sports in 1997-98 increased by nearly 5,000 from 1996-97. Women's sports participation showed a continued increase, rising 3.3 percent with 135,110 participants in 1997-98. There were a total of 203,696 men participating in sports in 1997-98, up .24 percent.

NCAA college football attendance added nearly two million new fans in 1999, and home attendance exceeded the 39 million mark for the first time in history, bolstered once again by attendance at Division I-A games. The 601 NCAA football teams posted a 1999 attendance total of 39,482,657 for all four divisions, a record jump of 1,991,477, surpassing the previous record of 37,491,078 set in 1998. It was the biggest jump in one year since 1978, when only NCAA teams were counted.