ARS Case Number: 9303 Decision Date: Nov 17, 2006 Involved Sports:

Football

Facts:

The change in eligibility status legislation specifies that when a student-athlete becomes ineligible at mid-year, the ineligibility shall become effective not later than the first day of classes of the following semester. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors adopted legislation January 2006, which established that NCAA Division I-A bowl games may be played up until the second Monday in January. As a result, it is possible for bowl games to be scheduled after the start of winter term classes at some NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) institutions, requiring those institutions to re-certify their student-athletes prior to participating in the bowl game. Football student-athletes at those institutions who become ineligible at the end of the previous semester would be unable to participate in the bowl game while football student-athletes who attend institutions that start classes after the bowl game would be permitted to play. Applicant institution seeks a blanket waiver to permit all NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision institutions (formerly Division I-A) to certify eligibility of their football student-athletes according to the regular application of NCAA Bylaw 14.1.10 (change in eligibility status), regardless of whether the bowl game occurs after the first day of classes for the winter term.

Request of Institution:

Waiver of the normal application of the change in eligibility status legislation to permit all Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) institutions to certify eligibility of their football student-athletes according to the regular application of the change in eligibility status legislation for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 bowl seasons, regardless of whether the bowl game occurs after the first day of classes for the winter term. Applicant conference asserts that a waiver would hold football student-athletes to the same level of accountability that has been historically applied in the past. Applicant conference further asserts that granting the waiver would promote competitive equity among institutions, teams and sports and preserve the competitive integrity of a championship level postseason event.

Rationale:

SUBCOMMITTEE GRANTED: The NCAA Division I Management Council Administrative Review Subcommittee approved a blanket waiver for the 2006-07 bowl season to permit all NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision institutions (formerly Division I-A) to certify eligibility of their football student-athletes according to the regular application of Bylaw 14.1.10, regardless of whether the bowl game occurs after the first day of classes for the winter term. Please note that this waiver would not apply to the certification of the full time enrollment legislation and the six hour legislation for football student-athletes in their final season of eligibility (Bylaw 14.1.10.2 [eligibility for postseason competition - between terms]). The subcommittee and the membership have recently realized that the dates of some bowl games will create inconsistent academic accountability among football student-athletes (e.g., student-athletes with identical academic credentials will be treated differently depending solely on their institution's first day of classes) and would require recertification of most football student-athletes prior to the bowl game in a way that has never been required by NCAA legislation in the past. This waiver would permit the eligibility for all football student-athletes to be certified in a consistent manner, regardless of when the bowl game occurs in relation to the start of the institution's classes. Finally, the subcommittee notes that this wavier is being granted for the 2006-07 bowl season only and the membership should engage in discussions to amend the rules to address the concerns noted in the waiver in time for the 2007-08 bowl season.

Action Taken: Granted