NCAA Changing I-A, I-AA Tags To Reflect Postseason Formats

The NCAA Division I BOD on Thursday voted to eliminate the Division I-A and I-AA tags that “officially separate college football’s major and more modest programs,” according to Steve Wieberg of USA TODAY. Beginning in December, the subdivisions will be known by their respective postseason formats, with the current I-A becoming the “Football Bowl Subdivision” and the current I-AA becoming the “Football Championship Subdivision,” alluding to the 16-team playoff that determines its national champion. Individual school affiliations, postseason formats, scholarship guidelines and other specifics “will remain the same” (USA TODAY, 8/4).

PROGRESS REPORT: The NCAA BOD at meetings this week also considered “further punishment for teams that consistently fail to make the grade,” under which “the worst offenders face a ban from postseason play and could lose their conference’s share of NCAA tournament money.” Other possible penalties include “restrictions on recruiting, scholarships and reduced playing seasons.” Under the proposed system, “any team with an average [Academic Progress Rate] lower than 900 over a rolling four-year period would face the harshest sanctions.” NCAA VP/Membership Services Kevin Lennon said that a score of 900 correlates to about a 50% graduation rate (AP, 8/4).

A TRIBE’S QUEST: In Richmond, John O’Connor reports the NCAA Exec Committee denied the College of William & Mary’s (W&M) appeal to keep the two feathers that protrude from the interlocking W and M in its logo, maintaining that the “Tribe” nickname paired with the feathered logo violates restrictions regarding the use of Native American mascots, names and imagery. The NCAA earlier this year said that W&M could keep the nickname but had to eliminate the feathers from its logo in order to host NCAA championship events (Richmond TIMES-DISPATCH, 8/4).