MTSU below new I-A attendance requirement
Bloomberg and staff reports
The NCAA said Division I-A football teams that fail to average at least 15,000 fans at home games twice over a 10-year period risk being dropped from the highest level of college athletics. It's a move that could be very bad for Middle Tennessee State football.
The membership standard was approved yesterday at the NCAA's Division I Board of Directors meeting in Indianapolis.
Any school that doesn't average at least 15,000 fans at home football games this season will receive notice from the NCAA that its Division I-A status is in jeopardy, said chairman Robert Hemenway, the chancellor at the University of Kansas.
If the school fails to reach the membership requirement a second time in the next 10 years, the team will be placed on restricted status, meaning it will be ineligible for a postseason bowl game. A school on restricted status would have to average 15,000 fans per home game for two years to regain full Division I-A status and avoid being dropped to a lower level of competition.
MTSU, despite drawing 23,261 fans for its 2003 season opener, averaged 11,021 for six games at Floyd Stadium last season.
MTSU moved from being a Division I-AA member in the Ohio Valley Conference to I-A status in 1999. Since making the move, the Blue Raiders have expanded Floyd Stadium, but they have yet to average more than 13,000 fans a game in any season.
''I didn't expect it not to pass,'' MTSU Athletics Director Boots Donnelly said. ''There was no question about it. Anytime you can solidify what the rule is, it's better. We haven't really known in the past.
''On the other hand, do I agree with the rule? No, I don't think there is any justification for it. But it's there and we'll beat the criteria whatever it is.''
The new rule also would be an issue for the entire Sun Belt Conference, of which MTSU is a member. According to figures from last season, five of the eight Sun Belt teams fell below the 15,000 threshold
MTSU President Sydney McPhee is on the NCAA's Board of Directors, which cast the votes for rule. It was unknown how he voted or what the vote total was.
MTSU adds grad assistant: Richard Burnoski, a former high school coach in Florida, joined the Middle Tennessee State coaching staff yesterday.
Burnoski will serve as a graduate assistant with an emphasis on the defensive line.
" Richard is a guy with head coaching experience and will add a lot to our program,’’ said Coach Andy McCollum. " He produced nine 1-A prospects last year, which is pretty impressive.’’
Burnoski coached at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Fla., from 2000 to 2003.
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