NCAA Football Divisons

[dmr]

For this season there are 119 Div I football teams, taking the field. I was wondering if anyone knew the requirements for a school to be div 1-A, div 1-aa, div II, etc, etc,etc? Is if based upon revenue? Full time student attendance? If based upon attendance, for those larger universities do those numbers include the students in their entire system? For example does Univ Wash numbers include the students on the tacoma, seattle and bothell campuses, does Univ Texas include UT-San Antonio, UT-Corpus, UT-Arlington?

Moving along to next question, is 119 teams the largest for div I? If, not anybody know how many and when? Along the same lines can anybody think of any recent (or any at all) teams either dropping from div I, either demoting to lower level or just dropping football all together?

Thanks in advance for anyone that can provide answers.

chasing the squirrel with the big fluffy tail

dmr

[Moser316]

The last team to drop football at the Division 1-A level was the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. The Tigers competed in the Big West conference (which disbanded for football a few years ago but still exists for other sports -- Pacific is still a member BTW) when they dropped their program after the 1995 season.

[pcgd]

For this season there are 119 Div I football teams, taking the field. I was wondering if anyone knew the requirements for a school to be div 1-A, div 1-aa, div II, etc, etc,etc? Is if based upon revenue? Full time student attendance? If based upon attendance, for those larger universities do those numbers include the students in their entire system? For example does Univ Wash numbers include the students on the tacoma, seattle and bothell campuses, does Univ Texas include UT-San Antonio, UT-Corpus, UT-Arlington?

Moving along to next question, is 119 teams the largest for div I? If, not anybody know how many and when? Along the same lines can anybody think of any recent (or any at all) teams either dropping from div I, either demoting to lower level or just dropping football all together?

Thanks in advance for anyone that can provide answers.

chasing the squirrel with the big fluffy tail

dmr

I believe (and I could be proven wrong) that its basically up to the schools. They have different requirements at each level of competition such as attendence and such. (that's the part I'm not sure about, but the NCAA won't tell Mount Union they have to play at D2 cause they are too good now or anything)

Now colleges must compete in all sports at the same level. Teams like Lake Superior (D1 Hockey, D3 everything else) have been grandfathered in, but if Mount Union wants to move up to the D2 level, all sports at Mount Union would have be at the D2 level.

I wanna say Football DI-A vs. DI-AA is based largely on attendence. But I could be way off on that.

[S316]

Temple should drop their football team

[NJTank]

Yea they are without a confernce now and cant win ever.

[Discrim]

For this season there are 119 Div I football teams, taking the field. I was wondering if anyone knew the requirements for a school to be div 1-A, div 1-aa, div II, etc, etc,etc? Is if based upon revenue? Full time student attendance? If based upon attendance, for those larger universities do those numbers include the students in their entire system? For example does Univ Wash numbers include the students on the tacoma, seattle and bothell campuses, does Univ Texas include UT-San Antonio, UT-Corpus, UT-Arlington?

Moving along to next question, is 119 teams the largest for div I? If, not anybody know how many and when? Along the same lines can anybody think of any recent (or any at all) teams either dropping from div I, either demoting to lower level or just dropping football all together?

Thanks in advance for anyone that can provide answers.

chasing the squirrel with the big fluffy tail

dmr

I believe (and I could be proven wrong) that its basically up to the schools. They have different requirements at each level of competition such as attendence and such. (that's the part I'm not sure about, but the NCAA won't tell Mount Union they have to play at D2 cause they are too good now or anything)

Now colleges must compete in all sports at the same level. Teams like Lake Superior (D1 Hockey, D3 everything else) have been grandfathered in, but if Mount Union wants to move up to the D2 level, all sports at Mount Union would have be at the D2 level.

I wanna say Football DI-A vs. DI-AA is based largely on attendence. But I could be way off on that.

basically, there's three tiers of Division 1

1-A and 1-AA are football schools, and I figure attendance plays a role in this. then there's the hidden tier, 1-AAA, those schools who don't operate varsity football programs (i.e. St. John's, Marquette, Providence).

Division II schools tend to be smaller than D1-AA schools, and D3 schools tend to vary in size (some may be the size of a box and some may rival 1-A schools in size...heck, my school UW Whitewater was more or less a jewel in the middle of a tiny town)

as far as a school's numbers, when looking at Texas they don't include UTEP, UT San Antonio or any other UT, just UT at Austin. similarly, when lookign at the Wisconsin Badgers they don't add UWs Whitewater, Parkside, LaCrosse, Stevens Point, Eau Claire or any other UW. just UW Madison

[Discrim]

Temple should drop their football team

brings to my mind a little joke inside an old Athlon season preview mag...listed in the 1998 coaching changes:

Temple

OUT: Beats me.

IN: What difference does it make?

[RyanB06]

Now colleges must compete in all sports at the same level. Teams like Lake Superior (D1 Hockey, D3 everything else) have been grandfathered in, but if Mount Union wants to move up to the D2 level, all sports at Mount Union would have be at the D2 level.

I wanna say Football DI-A vs. DI-AA is based largely on attendence. But I could be way off on that.

Right on the first one, pcgd.

The second one basically breaks down like this: if you want to play D-IA, your football stadium needs a minimum capacity of 35,000. That was one of the driving factors in getting Rentschler Field build for UConn - the on-campus stadium only seated 16,000 and was impossible to expand.

[LMU]

One of the requirements for a given level is also the amount of scholarships offered, which is why schools like Florida A&M dropped back, due to practically going bankrupt.

[jrh31584]

Temple should drop their football team

At least they should drop down to I-AA and be in the A-10, as they are in other sports.

[mjrbaseball]

Here is a link to the official NCAA requirements for Division I-A and I-AA.

http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/governance...DI_Requirements

[tp49]

basically, there's three tiers of Division 1

1-A and 1-AA are football schools, and I figure attendance plays a role in this.  then there's the hidden tier, 1-AAA, those schools who don't operate varsity football programs (i.e. St. John's, Marquette, Providence). 

Division II schools tend to be smaller than D1-AA schools, and D3 schools tend to vary in size (some may be the size of a box and some may rival 1-A schools in size...heck, my school UW Whitewater was more or less a jewel in the middle of a tiny town)

as far as a school's numbers, when looking at Texas they don't include UTEP, UT San Antonio or any other UT, just UT at Austin.  similarly, when lookign at the Wisconsin Badgers they don't add UWs Whitewater, Parkside, LaCrosse, Stevens Point, Eau Claire or any other UW.  just UW Madison

When did St. John's drop football? I remember when I was in High School the quarterback of the team my senior year went to St. John's and played football there.

[Discrim]

a couple years ago, I think after the 02 or 03 season.

[mjrbaseball]

basically, there's three tiers of Division 1

1-A and 1-AA are football schools, and I figure attendance plays a role in this.  then there's the hidden tier, 1-AAA, those schools who don't operate varsity football programs (i.e. St. John's, Marquette, Providence).

I would add another "hidden tier" in Division I-AA. The Ivy League schools have their own stricter rules: no athletic scholarships, no athletic dorms (football players are housed with the other students), stricter grade requirements for eligibility ... and the fact that the vast majority of the players will end up being doctors or lawyers or engineers or something like that.

And of course there are the service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force) ... where for the players, football is nothing more than a diversion from training to defend our country.

[VitaminD]

And of course there are the service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force) ... where for the players, football is nothing more than a diversion from training to defend our country.

At the service academies, participation in a sport at the varsity level is also mandatory. And they often can't get certain athletes because they're too tall. And they obviously can't recruit, unless they try greasing the Congressmen.

[Jigga]

At the service academies, participation in a sport at the varsity level is also mandatory. And they often can't get certain athletes because they're too tall. And they obviously can't recruit, unless they try greasing the Congressmen.

Not quite, VD. There is a physical participation requirement, but junior varsity, intramural, and club sports as well as other activities can fulfill that requirement. No, I didn't go to any of the academies, but I did go to West Point's 1-year prep school. We had the same rules and we visited the academy at least 3 times and learned all kinds of cool stuff about the academy.

Gaining that congressional recommendation is hard as hell. I was lucky, my dad was friends with a VA state senator that was friends with a US senator at the time, and that's the way I got mine...

[andrewharrington]

The second one basically breaks down like this: if you want to play D-IA, your football stadium needs a minimum capacity of 35,000. That was one of the driving factors in getting Rentschler Field build for UConn - the on-campus stadium only seated 16,000 and was impossible to expand.

A home record crowd of 24,545 saw a Bobcats' 16-10 overtime win spurred by two interception returns for touchdowns by Dion Byrum.

Ohio University is Division I-A, and 24,545 at the Pitt game was WAY BEYOND standing room only. I don't think, well, I'm positive the 35,000 seat requirement is not correct.

[VitaminD]

Not quite, VD. There is a physical participation requirement, but junior varsity, intramural, and club sports as well as other activities can fulfill that requirement.

Interesting. But I do know West Point and USAFA both field a lot of teams they consider varsity-level teams in sports that few other schools list as varsity sports.

My high school always seemed like a breeding ground for Annapolis men, and they dropped a lot of literature on us back in the day, and I thought it was more mandatory than you're saying it was. Naturally, I cannot confirm, and I trust what you're saying.

[no97]

Now colleges must compete in all sports at the same level.  Teams like Lake Superior (D1 Hockey, D3 everything else) have been grandfathered in, but if Mount Union wants to move up to the D2 level, all sports at Mount Union would have be at the D2 level.

Right on the first one, pcgd.

Well, pcgd was right on "playing-up," as the NCAA put a moratorium on new schools playing-up in a single sport a few years ago, but has since stated it would again allow it (as I'll point out later). FWIW, LSSU is D-II, and that may be the confusion. I think you're thinking of Prop 65, and its effect on D-III play-up's - which, in nearly eliminates the possibility of a D-III school from adding a D-I sport. However, even with that obstacle, RIT decided to opt-up to D-I hockey starting this year.

In summary, dmr, any school could be any division it wanted. Florida State could be D-III if it wanted, but that would come with the Division-III restrictions placed on its athletic department (no scholarships, limited budget, etc.), and that wouldn't go over very well with many alumni, now would it? Same goes for someone like Bemidji State. They could go D-I AA, but would be subject to all the requirements there as well (scholarship minimums, football attendance minimums, etc.)

Divisions are there to "level the playing field" so that a Lake State or Bemidji State doesn't have to compete with Florida State to win a national title. All in all, it's not a bad system...

Moose

[pcgd]

The second one basically breaks down like this: if you want to play D-IA, your football stadium needs a minimum capacity of 35,000. That was one of the driving factors in getting Rentschler Field build for UConn - the on-campus stadium only seated 16,000 and was impossible to expand.

A home record crowd of 24,545 saw a Bobcats' 16-10 overtime win spurred by two interception returns for touchdowns by Dion Byrum.

Ohio University is Division I-A, and 24,545 at the Pitt game was WAY BEYOND standing room only. I don't think, well, I'm positive the 35,000 seat requirement is not correct.

They could have been grandfathered in and the 35,000 rule after the stadium was built.