At What Point Does The NCAA Have Too Many Programs Playing D1 Basketball?

[Ace Dad]

Today, 336 or so colleges are labeled D1, meaning they have to play so many sports and have a certain number of scholarships and certain level of facilities.

Is there a saturation point? If there is, what drives it?

1. The number of potential D1 caliber high school and JUCO players?

2. Money?

3. Ability to draw a crowd?

Should this be a free market that may expand to 400 schools within the next 10 years and 450 schools in 30 years?

Or, should the NCAA decide that only 375 schools will be designated D1 and a new school can join when a school loses its designation?

Or, who cares?

[Nyghtewynd]

I can't think of one. Schools like to have D-1 basketball because it's only 12 scholarships. The more the merrier. Because if/when they decide to do the whole "Super D-1" thing, it'll be the BCS schools and very few other teams.

[Michigan J. Frog]

U.S. population was 200MM in 1965 and now it is 300MM

We are projected to be 400MM by 2050 or so, so there are more players and maybe more colleges.

I think we will see more D1 programs. I look at the DII programs here in Kansas and their programs are as good as many D1 programs in talent, crowd support and facilities.

Since the NCAA is a member organization, maybe they can tighten the entrance requirements.

[ShockBand]

Perhaps someday they will set attendance minimums like they do for DIA football. Wouldn't have to be very high to start knocking a lot of schools out. Looking at the 2006 numbers from the NCAA, its a little hard to tell quickly because they don't sort the school listings by average attendance. But if the conference averages are any indication, a 2000 minimum would knock out nine conferences. 2500 would knock out four more and 3000 four more again. So, a 3000 attendance minimum would take us down to about 15 conferences, looking at it that way.

At a glance, it would seem a 2000 attendance mimimum might knock out as many as 75-100 schools.

[tennis08tarheels]

They should just take the worst team (that isn't a new DI team) every year and send them to the NAIA.

Bye, Prarie View A&M.

Only problem would be that after 15 years or so, the MEAC, SWAC, and NEC would be completely gone.

No, I'm not serious about this.

[Nyghtewynd]

They should just take the worst team (that isn't a new DI team) every year and send them to the NAIA.



Cool. Promotion and relegation. The Valley should do that. We take the winner of the Mid-Con every year, and give them the last place school of the Valley.

[tennis08tarheels]

Cool. Promotion and relegation. The Valley should do that. We take the winner of the Mid-Con every year, and give them the last place school of the Valley.

It would just go back and forth. Drake would finish last in the Valley one year, first in the Mid-Con the next, last in the Valley the next, first in the Mid-Con the next. It's a never-ending cycle.

[Bisonfan]

As soon as all the conferences fill up lower division schools will have no place to go since the NCAA does not want to add anymore conferences. I remember NDSU's old DII Conference was looking into moving to DI when NDSU was and the 13 year wait for an autobid killed any chances of it happening.

[JJClamdip]

Jack Welch would cut the bottom 10% every year.

Why not the NCAA?

Let's quit kidding ourselves it is not about the education of the student athelete, it is about producing revenue.

It is a big business why not run it that way.

[Hail Red & White]

This is a great thread that addresses a problem the NCAA will have to eventually examine. With the moratorium on conferences stuck at 31 (since there can be no fewer than 34 at-large bids given), the only thing for leagues to do is expand or be seen as snobbish country club types. It's a no-win situation. Leagues like the MVC, Pac-10, Horizon League, and WAC have their members play each other twice before their conference tournaments. It gives a true sense of who the regular season champions are. Rivalries are built up, and teams have a chance to avenge a loss. You don't get that in the Big 12, Big 10, ACC, Big East, or Atlantic 10 because their conferences have expanded to more than 10 members. It's a point of contention among coaches and fans--they hate the lost basketball rivalries they once had before the growth.

In 1982, there were 272 Division 1 schools. Since then, 8 schools have either dropped to lower divisions or closed, but in the interim, 72 more schools have moved up in classification--that's an average of 3 new schools per year. In late 2006, the Men's basketball committee rejected a request to expand the tournament to 128 teams. In the late 80's or early 90's, there was a move to segregate Division 1 hoops and create a AA division, just like in football. Some small schools favored the idea--others hated it. It also created the problem of what to do with schools that are so-called Division 1-AAA (schools that play big-time hoops, but don't offer football). I think St. John's, Bradley, Wichita State, Marquette, St. Louis and Creighton were among the schools that voiced this concern about being left out of the mix.

If there ever is a definitive decision on what to do about the situation, it will surely change the landscape of college sports as we know it, but who will be satisfied with the proposed changes, whatever they may be?