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The Charleston Gazette
Doug Smock

I-A rules could die in a hurry


TODAY’S QUESTION: This sporting event combines a lot of teamwork, the thrill of speed, a dash of grace and the constant specter of danger.

While many fans enjoy it, some get a perverse thrill out of its spectacular wipeouts.

What am I describing?

I GET the idea that the pending attendance standards for NCAA Division I-A football are going down the hatch.

Beginning this fall, I-A schools must annually average more than 15,000 fans per game — not tickets sold, but actual and audited attendance.

According to this pundit (officials don’t say these things publicly, you know), this is a big, big reason Marshall is escaping the Mid-American Conference and joining Conference USA. Buffalo, Akron, Kent State and Eastern Michigan have no prayer of hitting 15K every year.

The Division I Board of Directors, made up of 18 college chief executives, is giving the new I-A standards the scrutiny that was lacking when the proposal passed two years ago.

That board will meet in August, which is not a legislative meeting. But the presidents do have the power to pass “emergency or noncontroversial