With Division I-A membership criteria now in the legislative pipeline, the Football Study Oversight Committee's focus has shifted to postseason issues.

Meeting October 29 in Indianapolis, the committee delved into discussions about bowl certification, the number of bowls and the number of games teams must win in order to be bowl-eligible.

The first order of business was to recommend that the current postseason bowl certification criteria be replaced with the following policies:

Bowl sponsors must guarantee revenue potential of $1 million in net receipts, excluding any revenue derived from contractual arrangements between participating conferences and schools.

Bowl sponsors must guarantee to sell a number of tickets equal in value to the combined contractual obligations of the participating schools.

Bowls must average, over a three-year period, actual attendance of 50 percent of stadium capacity.

Sponsors must provide a $1 million letter of credit, payable to the NCAA.

The proposals, which were developed by the Championships/Competition Cabinet's Football Certification Subcommittee, are meant to more accurately address the factors that influence a successful postseason bowl.

The oversight committee approved the new policies with the hope of ensuring participating teams with a quality postseason experience, while minimizing financial burdens that some postseason participants have incurred in the past. The committee, in fact, considered even stronger measures, requesting that staff develop another requirement for its review that would require the bowl sponsors to cover normal and reasonable expenses for participating schools (above and beyond other contractual agreements) that would provide schools with the potential for a cost-free postseason experience (unless a participating institution chose to pay for a larger travel party or purchase additional tickets, etc.).

Beyond those requirements, the football oversight committee also looked at a set of "objective certification criteria" that the Football Certification Subcommittee could use as it evaluates bowl applications. Those criteria would include community involvement; quality of the facility; conference commitments and conference place finish; longevity of the bowl; value of the title sponsor; television network and value of the agreement; stadium capacity and previous attendance; financial commitments by the sponsoring agency to participating teams; and geographic proximity to other bowls.

The Championships/Competition Cabinet will review the policies at its February 2002 meeting, and if they are approved, those criteria would become effective immediately as the Football Certification Subcommittee considers future bowl applications.

In addition to its review of certification criteria, the football oversight group also recommended that the NCAA refrain from legislating a maximum number of bowl games, preferring that an "open market" concept be used by conferences to negotiate their opportunities. But members recommended that a motion lifting the two-year moratorium of 26 as the maximum number of bowls be tabled, pending finalization of bowl criteria. The moratorium currently is in effect until after the 2002-03 academic year.

The committee also endorsed a proposal that would maintain a "deserving winning team" for the purposes of bowl selection as one that wins at least six games in an 11-game season and seven in a 12-game season. The group opposed a proposal granting bowl eligibility to teams winning six games in a 12-game season. A similar proposal, however, was approved by the Management Council earlier and will be considered by the Board of Directors November 1, along with the oversight committee's recommendations.

Finally, the oversight committee requested that legislation be considered that would allow a Division I-A school to count a game against a Division I-AA opponent in a 12-game season for bowl-eligibility purposes. That measure, however, would not count as the regular Division I-AA victory that may be counted once every four years per Bylaw 30.9.2.1.

"All in all, we had a lengthy discussion of the rationale for postseason football and made good progress toward outlining criteria for bowl eligibility for our member institutions," said Charles Wethington, chair of the oversight committee and former president of the University of Kentucky. "We've provided recommendations to the Board, which will direct appropriate committees to review and propose further action."

Division I-AA enhancements

In other action, the oversight committee began preliminary discussions about potential enhancements to Division I-AA football. The oversight committee had asked the Division
I-AA Football and Governance Committees to forward ideas, which was done after consultation with several Division I-AA conference commissioners and athletics directors.

Primary among areas for enhancements are the image of Division I-AA, concerns regarding financial losses absorbed by some universities because of their participation in the Division I-AA championship, improving student-athlete welfare and ensuring the viability of Division I-AA football.

Ideas offered for consideration for improving the Division I-AA championship include providing seats for a larger travel party when charter aircraft are used, underwriting production costs to televise preliminary rounds of the championship and creating a national championship for low- or nonscholarship Division I-AA football programs.

Suggestions for enhancements for the regular season include modifying the bowl-eligibility requirement to allow a Division I-A opponent to count a game against a Division I-AA institution every year, better promotion of Division I-AA football and an educational campaign to enhance the image of Division I-AA football.

Oversight committee members asked that NCAA staff develop estimated costs for the various proposals before further consideration.

Other highlights

NCAA Football Study Oversight Committee
October 29/Indianapolis

Agreed to distribute current economic data designed to educate chief executive officers about financial issues related to Division I football sponsorship. Also agreed to have the topic of financial ramifications of Division I football sponsorship discussed further at the Division I forum at the NCAA Convention in January.

Reviewed criteria for defining a Division
I-A conference, including a proposal that would require a conference to have at least eight members that meet all Division I-A institutional standards; participate in at least six men's and eight women's conference sports and provide regular-season or championship opportunities or both. Conference members also would have to participate in at least three women's team sports that are sponsored by the conference. After lengthy discussion, the oversight committee said it needed to better understand and evaluate the current governance structure. Members directed the NCAA staff to develop a presentation outlining the current structure and potential consequences if changes were made.

Received a report on student-athlete welfare, diversity and financial issues, areas of focus the oversight committee will undertake at its February 2002 meeting.