GENERAL ATHLETICS: Thinking Of Moving Up To Division I ... Get Out Your Checkbook

In the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, there rarely is a lack of talk about teams going from Division II to Division I. Frankly, it's a topic that comes up so often with the dominance of Ferris State University rival Grand Valley State University in the GLIAC and nationally. It's a bit of a sore subject for people at Grand Valley and for a few others in the GLIAC who become uneasy by talk of a potential defection of GVSU to Division I.

USA Today has an article, written by Steve Wieberg, about what it might cost in the future for athletic programs pondering a move to Division I:

Schools eyeing a jump to NCAA Division I might have to dig deeper into their pockets.

The NCAA is weighing a number of new conditions to join its richest, highest-profile division, including an application fee of as much as $1 million. Reclassifying schools now pay $15,000.

The guidelines are being hammered out by the Division I Leadership Council, which reports in October to the school presidents and chancellors on the D-I Board of Directors. The earliest any changes would kick in is April.

"Division I is a significant brand. There's a nice revenue-sharing pool," says Georgia athletics director Damon Evans, who heads the Leadership Council. "We've just got to make sure … that those in Division I are the right institutions and can meet the standards and qualifications."

The action comes as Division I has grown from 310 schools a decade ago to 335, with another 13 en route to full membership by the 2012-13 school year. Concerned about overgrowth — and an influx of schools lacking Division I-level funding and other resources — the NCAA cut off new applications until August 2011.

Evans' panel also is talking about beefing up scholarship commitments and requiring applicants to have conference affiliation. Though it is tentatively recommending a "substantial" application fee, Evans says the group is far from settled on the $1 million figure.

For many people, Division I has become a field that is a little too crowded and the NCAA decided to take a strong action (actually several) to try and get a handle on things.

It's hard (if not impossible) to unring the bell, but the NCAA can take future actions.

This $1 million proposal is perhaps a way of slowing the rolling tide of teams pondering making the jump to D1 from D2.

As was pointed out later in the story, schools thinking about jumping to the Division I level better make sure they have prepared themselves. It's not impossible. There are some Division II schools who have a demonstrated history of success, the market and the will to be successful at the Division I level.

Here in Michigan, a committed and well-researched Oakland University made a jump (granted OU does not have football) and has experienced its share of successes at the Division I level.