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Hey, NCAA. Stop Confusing Us.
Published: 9/3/2007 6:22 PM
Last Modified: 9/3/2007 6:22 PM

Dear NCAA: Please don't arrest me.
I wrote a Big 12 column for Tuesday's paper that makes excessive use of the terms I-A and I-AA. Those terms aren't current anymore, but I used them nonetheless because I didn't want to confuse the heck out of readers.
College football teams used to be divided into the neighborhoods of Division I-A and Division I-AA. The big boys get 85 scholarships and play I-A ball. Smaller schools get 63 scholarships and play at the I-AA level.
That's simple enough, right?
Well, the NCAA threw everyone a curve ball by handing out new monikers. Division I-A is now the Bowl Subdivision. Division I-AA is now the Championship Subdivision, which sounds superior to the Bowl Subdivision if you ask me.
I could have used the new terminology in my story, but would readers have known what in the heck I was talking about? Probably not. I'm sticking with I-A and I-AA, at least until the other lingo can be absorbed into the public domain.
My guess is the NCAA changed the terms because it didn't want the poor fellows at the I-AA level to feel stigma-tized or inferior. Since Appalachian State beat Michigan on Saturday, an inferiority complex is no longer an issue.



Reader Comments 3 Total
Ron Smith (5 years ago)
I'm with you, Jimmie, on the new monickers for the college football divisions. Before I became aware of the new lingo, I would have an article half-way read and not have a clue. I suspect it is someone's attempt at bringing more political correctness into NCAA's domain. What's next, draping a tarp over the scoreboards and not keep score?
Jimmie Tramel (5 years ago)
Don't give anyone ideas about the tarp thing. Someone might actually be in favor of it. Won't be long before games will be closed to fans so that everything can be kept secret.
Phil (5 years ago)
Just keep using the old 1A and 1AA. Don't even take the time to mention the other non-sense. Real football fans use the old terminology and don't care about the new.
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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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