05-16-2014, 11:45 AM
Interesting peak into how the rule came the be and why its ripe to be dumped. Very interesting article. But for those that don't want to read the whole thing, here is the key paragraphs to its history---
Eberle asked Yoder, a member of the NCAA's Division II council, to draft legislation that would allow the league to stage a championship game that would be exempt from the regular-season limit. This would eliminate the wasted date, and it would also provide a special atmosphere for two teams in an era when the PSAC champ couldn't always crack the eight-team Division II playoff.
Yoder wrote a draft of the rule that required 14 schools -- to match the PSAC's membership -- split into two divisions, playing a round-robin schedule within their divisions. After learning from friends with more NCAA legislative experience that he had worded the legislation incorrectly, he rewrote it. But while Yoder was rewriting, some friends from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) -- a 12-member league of historically black schools then spread throughout North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland -- asked him if their league could co-sponsor the legislation. They liked the idea, and they also used divisions. So, Yoder revised his legislation to require 12 teams and not 14. That was it. There was no research. No debate. The CIAA had 12 members at the time, so Yoder wrote the number 12 into the legislation. "We were Division II," Yoder said. "Nobody really cared."
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college...z31thufiml
Eberle asked Yoder, a member of the NCAA's Division II council, to draft legislation that would allow the league to stage a championship game that would be exempt from the regular-season limit. This would eliminate the wasted date, and it would also provide a special atmosphere for two teams in an era when the PSAC champ couldn't always crack the eight-team Division II playoff.
Yoder wrote a draft of the rule that required 14 schools -- to match the PSAC's membership -- split into two divisions, playing a round-robin schedule within their divisions. After learning from friends with more NCAA legislative experience that he had worded the legislation incorrectly, he rewrote it. But while Yoder was rewriting, some friends from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) -- a 12-member league of historically black schools then spread throughout North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland -- asked him if their league could co-sponsor the legislation. They liked the idea, and they also used divisions. So, Yoder revised his legislation to require 12 teams and not 14. That was it. There was no research. No debate. The CIAA had 12 members at the time, so Yoder wrote the number 12 into the legislation. "We were Division II," Yoder said. "Nobody really cared."
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college...z31thufiml