AAC, C-USA Among Conferences Asking for D-I Requirement Relief Amid COVID-19

The American Athletic Conference, Mountain West, Mid-American Conference, Sun Belt and Conference USA petitioned the NCAA to ease the requirements to participate in Division I sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN).

Per that report, the five conferences asked NCAA President Mark Emmert to reduce the total number of sports a school must have to remain in Division I and "asked for temporary relief from requirements regarding financial aid, average football attendance and scheduling."

Current bylaws require Division I schools to hold at least 16 sports.

"As you are aware, the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant economic turmoil has resulted in the direst financial crisis for higher education since at least the Great Depression," the conferences wrote in the letter addressed to Emmert and the NCAA.

Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson also addressed the situation in a statement.

"We have been working closely with our membership for the past few weeks developing potential options to address the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. "Other conferences are engaged in the same process and this collaborative request from the Group of Five is intended as the sort of creative alternative these unprecedented times demand."

The possibility of schools dropping a number of sports programs to save money is already becoming a reality. Cincinnati (AAC) cut men's soccer, while Old Dominion (C-USA) gave its wrestling program the ax. More schools could follow suit.

"I think now that Cincinnati just did it, watch the next month," an FBS athletic director told Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports. "They cleared the way for other people to do it. Cincinnati puts it on a different level. Unfortunately, you're going to start to see it. When you have to right-size everything, that's going to become a way out for a lot of these programs."

Per Thamel, the five schools that petitioned Emmert are also asking to eliminate some postseason tournaments altogether, among other changes, for a period of up to four years. But it's possible that some athletic directors are using the financial hardships presented during the coronavirus pandemic to push through changes they already wanted.

"Athletic directors are using this as a reset," an industry source told Thamel. "Some athletic directors have been talking about cutting sports for three years and are just looking for the right time."