September 7, 2007

NCAA's alphabet soup is unnecessary, doomed to failure

Teddy Greenstein

We live in complicated times and confront dicey decisions: Ditch Comcast for DirecTV? Stay at home or pay for child-care? Buy a hybrid or suffer at the pump?

We crave simplicity in our lives, and college football used to provide it in one obvious, tangible way.

There were two types of teams we cared about: Division I-A and Division I-AA. And with few exceptions (Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee), we knew exactly who was who. When Division I-AA Montana State beat Colorado last season, we didn't need an interpreter to tell us it was an upset. (Same for Appalachian State and Michigan.)

I-A and I-AA. Short, sweet, to the point.

Now I-A is being called the Football Bowl Subdivision and I-AA is the Football Championship Subdivision. Guess what? We already knew that I-A teams played in bowls and I-AA teams duked it out in a playoff.

So who are the brainiacs who took away our letters? Blame these four: N-C-A-A. The Division I Board of Directors approved the change in August 2006.

NCAA Vice President David Berst said Thursday that the goal was to help the public understand that the class distinction (I-A vs. I-AA) only applied to football.

"When you get to basketball, you hear Butler (incorrectly) described as a I-AA team by commentators on our own broadcast," Berst said in a telephone interview.

"Or at the College World Series, you hear Cal-State Fullerton called a I-AAA team.

"I think the short-hand version is what folks would begin to use if it works. FBS and FCS is probably the cleanest way to get there."

FBS and FCS ... are those banks, member F.D.I.C.?

Berst is a realist. He knows that if the media keep using I-A and I-AA, the new terms are doomed.

"The Board of Directors approved it recognizing that it would not be an easy sell," he said.

"Even our own football coaches tend to say: 'Good grief, where did that come from?'"

From the NCAA, and it should be sent back. We don't need FBS to see the Full-Blown Silliness of this change.