McGINN 'N' JUICE: I-AA Football Faces Change

After its first 10-0 campaign in a century, the Harvard football team may be on its way to Division I-A.

Sort of.

According to a report in Wednesday’s edition of the New York Times, the NCAA Division I board of directors was expected to explore instituting a series of proposals submitted by several Division I-AA football schools yesterday—proposals which would seek to increase the number of games between I-A and I-AA programs each year and blur the formal distinction between the two tiers.

Of course, the partition would still exist in practice. Programs would indicate whether they would be competing for a bowl bid or entry in what is currently the I-AA playoffs well ahead of time, the Times reported.

Whether the measures will pass, and precisely what their impact on the college football landscape will be if they do, remains unclear. But it takes little imagination to envision the three potential outcomes for the Crimson and the Ivy League (listed below in order of increasing likelihood) if Division I-AA as we know it disappears.

First, the Ancient Eight embraces the stepped-up competition, forsakes its longstanding policy of refusing to award athletics scholarships, and actively attempts to establish itself as the nation’s pre-eminent football conference. Despite relaxing its admissions standards immediately, several years likely go by before meaningful results are realized.

Still, given its unparalleled academic offerings and newly discovered dedication to championship-caliber football, the Ivy League captures seven consecutive BCS national titles beginning in 2013—four of which are earned by Harvard, which lures recruits to Cambridge with a brand-new Astroturf stadium. The stretch is highlighted by the Crimson’s third title, in 2016, earned at the Rose Bowl, capping a perfect 13-0 campaign and marking the program’s first Tournament of the Roses title since 1920.

The likelihood that this will actually occur? Probably as strong as President Lawrence H. Summers’ chances of being honored by an organization of female scientists for, well, anything.

Second, the Ivy League continues to operate as though nothing has changed. Harvard continues to schedule all of its games against fellow Ancient Eight and Patriot League programs, maintaining its air of indifference towards more competitive Division I programs of either tier.

Despite a rise in the quality of league play, Ivy League presidents refuse to allow their schools to partake in playoffs of any sort—the only varsity sport for which they maintain this stance. The sacrifices required, they wrongly claim, would detract from their student-athletes’ studies, and the pressure to hold even with scholarship schools would force the further lowering of admissions requirements for football players, which no one is quite prepared to accept.

The probability, on the Summers scale, that this will occur? About as good as Summers’ chances for completing the 2004-05 trifecta by infuriating a third minority group by Commencement—likely, but I wouldn’t bet my house on it.

Third, while most former Division I-AA schools rejoice at the prospect of dropping that derogatory second ‘A,’ the Ivy League shrinks from becoming a full-fledged Division I-A football program, even if the change is only nominal. Rather than weather the pressure to participate in playoffs or upgrade its facilities, the Ancient Eight uses the policy change as an opportunity to again pledge its commitment to amateur athletics.

To that end, Harvard, Yale, and company agree to abandon Division I football and enlist in Division III, as many pundits have long speculated they are eager to do. Amherst and Williams replace Lehigh and Northeastern on the Crimson’s schedule each year.

Though Harvard handles its weaker schedule with relative ease, trading perfect seasons with Penn for the better part of a decade, neither program is permitted to participate in the Division III playoffs. Eventually, quality players like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Clifton Dawson stop coming to Cambridge and the Crimson’s performance declines, ultimately matching that of its Division III counterparts.

The prospects of this rather bleak outcome? About as good as Summers’ chances of getting an American-Indian female professor’s boot in the butt. Yep. That good.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.