IS SOUTHERN I-A READY – Pros

At this past Wednesday’s press luncheon, Southern athletic director Floyd Kerr addressed the audience about a certain rumor.
“We are not entertaining going to I-A,” said Kerr.
It may be a rumor, but the thought of an HBCU school playing against the “big boys” sparks discussion. Here’s just a couple of points to consider on the subject.
According to the NCAA, Division I-A teams have to meet minimum attendance requirements by having of 17,000 people in attendance per home game or 20,000 average of all football games in the last four years.
In 2000, Southern led Division I-AA in attendance with 27,190 people in attendance per home contest. That number was slightly less than Central Florida’s home average of 27,279, but ahead of such schools as Washington State, Wake Forest, Tulane, Southern Methodist University, Louisiana Tech and 34 other Division I-A teams last season. The interesting fact about that is that A.W. Mumford Stadium doesn’t have 30,000 permanent seats as mandated by the NCAA.
Division I-A teams have to meet those minimum attendance requirements or be in a member conference in which six conference members sponsor football with more than half of football schools meet attendance criterion.
That’s where the fabled “HBCU Conference” comes in. In a presentation to the athletic directors of the Southwestern Athletic Conference six months ago, schools such as Southern, Florida A&M, Grambling State, Jackson State, Tennessee State, and North Carolina A&T were identified as institutions that have the resources to make the jump.