INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division I Board of Directors today approved adding a 12th football game for Division I-A colleges and universities, but chose not to add an extra regular-season game for institutions competing in Division I-AA.

Robert Hemenway, chancellor of the University of Kansas and chair of the Board of Directors, said board members considered a number of factors related to adding the 12th game before taking action on the measure, which takes effect in 2006.

"The board reviewed a number of issues, including the fact that players want to participate, fans are interested in watching an extra game, and that there is no evidence that a 12th game has a negative impact on academics,” Hemenway said.  “Financial issues were also discussed, but as one of many factors, including the fact that adding a 12th game does not lengthen the season.”

Hemenway added that Division I-AA teams participate in playoffs in football, unlike their Division I-A counterparts, meaning those teams are already playing 12 to 15 games depending on how far they progress in the postseason.

In other action related to the sport of football, the Board of Directors used its authority to adopt emergency legislation and revised Division I-A membership criteria.

Some Division I-A institutions expressed concerns over one of the criteria that called for average home attendance each season of at least 15,000 fans per game.  The board adopted emergency legislation to allow schools to meet the criteria with a minimum average of 15,000 in actual attendance at home football games over a two-year period or an average of 15,000 in paid attendance at all home games.

The board also approved emergency legislation to allow Division I-A football teams to count one victory each year against a Division I-AA opponent for bowl eligibility.  A related measure adopted through emergency legislation will let Division I-A teams use one game played each year against a Division I-AA opponent to count as a home game for Division I-A membership.  The previous rule allowed these games to count as a home contest once every four years.  These measures take effect for the 2005 season.

In legislation related to men’s and women’s basketball, the Board approved six of seven measures supported by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, including reversal of a measure defeated by the Management Council to increase the number of players allowed to participate in out-of-season skill-instruction sessions.  The previous rule allowed a maximum of four players.  That limit was eliminated.

This proposal was also adopted for women’s players as part of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association package.  Most other WBCA proposals were approved, except for one measure approved by the Management Council but defeated by the Board of Directors.  This measure would have prohibited a women’s coach from being employed with a pro women’s team or serving as an announcer or commentator for a professional women’s basketball league broadcast.  That prohibition was lifted.

The Board approved several other proposals advanced by the Management Council earlier in April that were deemed non-controversial.

In other action, the Board was briefed on a study examining capital expenditures in college athletics.  The study was conducted by Jonathan and Peter Orszag of  Competition Policy Associates, Inc., an economic consulting firm.  Among their findings: including capital costs in overall athletic spending does not change the fact that athletics still represents less than 5 percent of a university’s total budget; and that evidence of an “arm’s race” in football stadium capacity is modest at best.

The Board also heard an update on the NCAA’s alcohol policies, which prohibit alcohol sales at all NCAA championship events and alcohol advertising within championship venues.  Broadcast advertising during the NCAA championships is also limited to no more than 60 seconds during each hour of broadcast.  The Board recommended that the NCAA Executive Committee develop a comprehensive alcohol policy that would cover all three divisions. 

Finally, the Board of Directors endorsed and forwarded a resolution to the Executive Committee urging NCAA member institutions to follow the earlier guidelines from the U.S. Department of Education on compliance with Title IX.

The latest clarification issued by the federal government allows colleges and universities to gauge female students’ interest in athletics under the third prong of a three-part test by conducting an e-mail survey.

That clarification, issued by the Department of Education in March, allows schools to treat a lack of response to the survey as a lack of interest in playing additional sports.  The resolution urges the federal government to rescind its latest clarification, which NCAA members believe is flawed and does not support the spirit of Title IX or compliance with the federal law.