may be settled soon… 8-)


FAU, FIU hoping attendance standard for I-A is eliminated

By Ted Hutton
Staff Writer
Posted April 29 2004

While most of the attention on today's NCAA Division I Board of Directors meeting will be on expected passage of the final part of an aggressive academic reform package, Florida Atlantic and Florida International will be awaiting news on the Item 8 on the agenda.

Under review on Item 8 is the new standards required for membership in Division I-A football and includes averaging 15,000 in actual attendance at home games.


There is a possibility the board could lessen or eliminate the attendance requirement, which would be good news for the Owls and Golden Panthers, because both FAU and FIU will be starting their two-year transition from I-AA to I-A this fall and meeting the 15,000 figure is the biggest stumbling block.

The new requirements, which were passed last year to make it tougher to move up to I-A, also include scheduling at least five home games against I-A opponents, sponsoring a minimum of 16 varsity sports and offering 200 scholarships, or spending at least $4 million on scholarships.

FAU and FIU, which will be members of the Sun Belt Conference in football in 2005, said they will have no trouble meeting all the requirements except attendance. FAU averaged 6,909 fans and FIU 7,073 last season.

"We're very interested to see what happens," FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos said. "All of our plans have gone ahead full steam as if we have to meet the requirement."

Eleven I-A schools did not meet the 15,000-attendance standard last year, and that was based on announced attendance, not actual attendance, which can be considerably lower. Some estimates are that 20 to 30 current I-A schools could be affected.

The proposed penalty is a year of probation followed by declassification, meaning the school would be forced to move back to I-AA or eliminate football.

NCAA President Myles Brand is reportedly in favor of eliminating the attendance standard, since no other NCAA sport has such a limit and it might not survive an expected court challenge.

There also is sentiment that the monetary commitment by the school in form of scholarships is more important than attendance.

"It certainly would make my job easier," Angelos said. "I wouldn't be sweating out each game."

Issue Tabled. Gathering more info for further discussions. That's good news. At least it wasn't rejected.


But…….. I still would like the see the AGGRESSIVE promotions for the 15000 at the home games. We need to get the support behind the team and this revised(?)attendance issue should not detract us from our goal of filling the seats.

O.G., I couldn't agree more and I think Angelo's and Florida Atlantic in general will be very agressive in the next two year in promoting FAU - football to bring the attendance at 15,000+ per game. They know that if you want to compete at the highest level possible you need fan and community support. They realize as well, in order to attract support you must have a good product, they have achieved that and are under extreme pressure to continue the success in order to bring the other half of the equation to fruitition.

FAU is now in a great possition to ride a wave that was generate with last year success and has a chace to highten the awareness of FAU as an institution in general. Local and national exposure will be key to our success. Locally, I feel people are more aware of FAU then ever before. The funny thing is people knew of FAU, but never took the institution seriously, or at least as a major player.

I say we bombard the public with TV & Radio commercial lined with subliminal messages - FAU "Fighting Owls are #1" and are the best action in town. ;D