INSIDE SPORTS: Power Play

Concerns over money mayConcerns over money mayleave the Ivy League onConcerns over money mayleave the Ivy League onthe sidelines Power and money have become as commonplace in the arena of sport as twisted ankles and last-second shots. Over the past decade the National Collegiate Athletic Association's largest constituents -- the members that support Division I-A football programs -- have sought to assert their claim to both of these most valuable of assets. Clamoring for greater influence, these schools have threatened to break away from the country's preeminent authority on intercollegiate competition, taking their athletes and well-lined revenue coffers with them. For those 90 or so institutions, the NCAA's policy of granting member schools one vote on most -- but not all -- issues has been the main point of contention. The I-A schools' logic is fiscally simple: If we fill our stadiums to the gills each week and bring in truckloads of network dollars, shouldn't we have a greater role in the decision-making process? The entire issue can be traced back to actions taken by the nation's larger universities in the late 1970s. In those days, the delineation between I-A, I-AA, and I-AAA was only important to people who needed to buy new batteries. Today, as autonomy throughout the NCAA has increased, those categories have very significant meanings, with Division I-A universities reaping the windfall of big time football money. According to Athletic Director Steve Bilsky, the problem has arisen because this minority of schools wants a change. The NCAA has 1,000 members, 300 of which compete on the Division I level. About a third of those 300 field Division I-A football squads. "It is a question of the degree of power," Bilsky said. "If it's more autonomy to make decisions more relevant to their kind of programs, I think the membership is more willing to do something in that regard. "If it means that all decision making and control is going to be in the hands of 100 schools, there's going to be a lot of resistance to that," he added. If the two factions can not work out their differences, the debate may sever the country's premier football schools from the rest of the NCAA. However, the chances that the Notre Dames and the Michigans of the world will pick up their toys and tell the rest of the NCAA they are going somewhere else to play are slim. Jeff Orleans, executive director of the Ivy Group, the governing body of the Ancient Eight, doubts Division I will splinter. "I think the Division I-A schools will get the control that they want?.It's my best guess that this breakaway is not going to happen," Orleans said. In reality, such a bold leap would be hard to accomplish. Orleans explained the difficulty, saying, "If we thought they were going to split, we'd make it as difficult as possible both economically and legally." Bilsky said going through with the separation would be impractical because the bureaucracy now controlling college sports is firmly established. He does not see the pragmatism in "starting from scratch." Although Division I-A may not splinter, the NCAA will not be continuing business as usual. Change hovers over collegiate athletics as America's colleges posture to meet the demands of I-A schools. What remains to be seen however, is how all this change will effect the Ivy League, whose member institutions compete in Division I-AA football. The conference that puts the "scholar" in "scholar-athlete" stands on the cusp -- maybe more than ever before in its history -- of adopting serious reform. Four of the league's athletic directors have come into office within the past year. The change in command at Yale, Cornell, Princeton and here at Penn, with Bilsky's arrival, will insure that the future will see significant changes in the league. When looking ahead, Orleans and the Ivy athletic directors will plan with the current NCAA format as their guide. But as they proceed down this path, they will have to consider some very pressing issues. Central among these is the Ivy League's fundamental belief that all students deserve to be treated equally, and financial aid should not depend upon a potential student's athletic prowess. "We're not going to change the way we distribute financial aid to compete with Division I-A," Orleans said. "The pressure about scholarships has never been externally generated." So while conference administrators stand united in their opposition to athletic scholarships, they can not ignore the trouble brewing within many of the athletic programs Ivy schools offer. As the cost of college continues to spiral upward, the student-athlete's ability to shoulder this burden becomes increasingly difficult. Bilsky said he believes addressing this trend will be imperative to assuring the Ivy League's future. He said he sees the conference's pool of potential athletes shrinking each year as the number of individuals who meet the academic and financial need requirements to attend an Ivy institution decreases. "If we don't address these decreasing numbers, 10 years from now the Ivy League will just be a league for rich kids," Bilsky said. He cautioned, however, that it will be very difficult to deal with this concern without appearing to advocate athletic scholarships. Furthermore, as the change brought on by the Division I-A football schools sweeps the NCAA, the Ivy League will seek to carve out a more significant niche for itself. Historically, the Ancient Eight has played a diminished role in the grand scheme of college athletics. As the league's director, Orleans feels it should play a larger role. "In the future, we definitely want to have more rule-making power," he said. "I think the Ivy League can be very influential in NCAA sports." The conference already has a number of its coaches sitting on various NCAA committees, allowing some progressive initiatives to be passed. Some of these reforms may come in the arena that is causing all the upheaval in the first place -- football. Although the Ivy League participates at the I-AA level, it doesn't include itself in the postseason playoffs these schools hold annually. Penn's performance on the gridiron in the last two years has led many to ponder how an Ivy representative might fare in such competition. In the future, Penn football coach Al Bagnoli said he definitely sees the Ivy League easing its restrictions and allowing teams to participate in the hunt for the national Division I-AA football crown. He does believe that, with all the bureaucratic shifting around in the league, the provision might not come to pass as soon as it should. Discussing what would be a monumental change of heart for the conference, Bagnoli said: "I think it will happen. I'm not sure when the time table will be. There is a tremendous amount of discussion to the topic" of entering the I-AA playoffs. In regard to its football operations, the Ivy League may as a whole attempt to seek out more competitive games based on regional rivalries. Such a shift would probably have the largest effect on the Quakers, because aside from Patriot League teams, the Red and Blue don't suit up against any teams in the surrounding area. While Brown plays Rhode Island, Yale goes up against UConn and Dartmouth takes on New Hampshire on a regular basis, Penn does not face any of the fine I-AA teams in the Philadelphia region, such as Delaware or Villanova. Bagnoli said he sees nothing but positive results coming from a crosstown showdown with Villanova, adding that talks to arrange a series of games between the two schools are currently underway. "If we're going to play a school like Villanova or William and Mary, who we play next year, why not play a Naval Academy-type program?" Bagnoli said. Although a game against a lowly Division I-A opponent would be a tremendous attraction in football, Orleans cites failures at such attempts in his argument against the idea. Lehigh experimented with this idea and was burned badly. Trekking out to Big Sky country, the Engineers stomached a nine-touchdown shellacking against Idaho. In the current NCAA climate, scheduling games against teams the Ivy League doesn't usually play may hold another hidden peril. With Division I-A institutions threat to bolt from the NCAA looming, some I-AA schools may seek to upgrade their programs in order to obtain this elite status, leaving I-AA schools with which they have already contracted to play out in the cold. But Bagnoli sees the situation differently. "It's not a question of whether or not I-AA schools go with [I-A schools]," he said. "It's a question of whether or not these schools will allow certain teams to come in." If the NCAA is split, Bagnoli said he believes a great number of schools will switch to the standard of the Patriot and Ivy Leagues, giving no athletic scholarships. As for basketball, the NCAA's other primetime sport, the effect of the rift wouldn't be so straightforward. The basketball question presents an interesting wrinkle, with so many of the game's juggernauts not part of the I-A fraternity. While the level of football competition would perhaps be second to none, basketball matchups would leave fans longing for teams like UMass and Georgetown. The number of top-notch teams excluded from the alliance seems to indicate the Ivies might be left with the pick of the litter for competition in basketball. Not so, says Bilsky. "You might see a number of Big East basketball schools grandfathered into this new organization." No matter what happens, Penn basketball coach Fran Dunphy will remain resolutely committed to the Ivy ethic. While he doesn't see a potential split as beneficial, he commented, "Our product isn't changing. The quality of the education we provide is going to remain the same." Regardless, he said Penn will continue to pursue the best student-athletes it can, sticking to the same recruiting philosophy it's employed for years.