Jump to Division I-A

[eddantes]

This isn't a "should we or shouldn't we" thread, largely because I think that ultimately the goal should be to play competitive I-A football. In how many years, well, that's a different story.

What I want to know is this: What are the criterion for I-A membership? I know that there is some sort of attendance requirement, but for how long does an institution have to maintain that prior to consideration? Does money have to change hands? Is there a provisional time before the I-AA to I-A jump? Don't you have to have a certain number of seats available in the stands? Parking?

Basically, aside from actually fielding a team, what do we have to do to become a I-A program?

[Supa J]

I'm pretty sure you hafta average 36,000 for two years before you can make the jump.

[Another Guest]

www2.ncaa.org/media_and_events/association_news/ncaa_news_online/2005/05_09_05/division_i/4210n18.html

[Another Guest]

Here is another link that has FAQ's about I-A membership:

www1.ncaa.org/membership/governance/division_I/DI_Membership_Info/d1qa_11_05.htm

[Sly Fox]

You'll notice there is no longer a minimum stadium capacity listed. And they have relaxed the attendance numbers from the hard 15k/season or you are threatened with getting dumped to I-AA. From a core minimum standpoint, we can reach I-A standards as long as we get fannies in the stands.

The other major concern would be finding a conference so we could schedule the minimum I-A home games. Right now, there are now obvious choices. Our best hope is that we could pair with some others considering the jump together such as Appy.

[PAmedic]

I'll look up the thread where we hashed this one out before: suffice to say we meet half the attendance numbers just by issuing season tickets to the student body as part of the student activities package fee.

bottom line- we obviously have bigger issues right now, lets find a COACH and staff first and then bite of the rest of the apple.