Among the requirements commissioners want to see relaxed is a minimum on athletic grants-in-aidGETTY IMAGES
Five conference commissioners have asked the NCAA to "relax some requirements to compete in Division I for four years, including the minimum number of sports a school must sponsor," according to Ralph Russo of the AP. A letter from commissioners of the AAC, Mountain West, Mid-American Conference, Sun Belt and Conference USA to NCAA President Mark Emmert asked for "temporary relief from financial aid requirements, along with average football attendance." NCAA rules require D-I schools to have "at least 16 varsity sports." The commissioners also requested lifting rules that require schools to do the following:
- Offer a "minimum of 200 athletic grants-in-aid per year" or spend at least $4M in grants-in-aid on athletes.
- Once every two years on a "rolling basis, average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football games."
- Play minimum numbers of total games and home games in "sports such as baseball, football and basketball and minimum percentage of games" against D-I or FBS competition in "various sports" (AP, 4/15).
MAKING TOUGH CALLS: MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson said, "We have to be creative in these times. I cannot emphasize enough that our intent is to maintain the same level of sports sponsorships." AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said that his league and many others are "considering eliminating Olympic sports conference championships, essentially those outside of football and men’s and women’s basketball, for cost-saving reasons." He added, "It’s the kind of thing that everyone is discussing. We haven’t made any decisions yet" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 4/14).
ALL THINGS BEING CONSIDERED: Air Force AD Nathan Pine in a statement said "everything is under consideration” on both the conference and school level to navigate the pandemic. Pine: “The MWC office staff and member athletic directors have been working collaboratively on the best way forward for the 2020-21 academic year, focused on preserving sports and student-athlete opportunities." In Colorado Springs, Brent Briggeman cites a source as saying that Air Force is the "safest institution within the Mountain West when it comes to preserving sports because of federal backing." But state schools "could face dire straits, particularly if football isn’t played in the fall." MWC ADs, "at the urging of Pine, agreed to table discussions last week as opposed to agreeing to drastic actions before major variables have been determined." Yesterday's letter to the NCAA "will allow for flexibility when and if the time comes for action" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 4/15).
