Just the facts

So, what exactly separates Division I-A team from Divisions I-AA, I-AA, II and III?

Oh, about 100 yards and a couple of goalposts.

The NCAA has eight categories to determine membership in the different groups: the number of sports sponsored, football attendance requirements, scheduling requirements for football, men’s and women’s basketball and all other sports, financial aid requirements and, of course, annual dues.

But it mostly comes down to a football team. Schools in Divisions I-A and I-AA both have to sponsor football teams. I-A schools have to average 15,000 football fans per game-and that doesn’t mean tickets sold, that means abutts in the seats.

VCU would fall into Division I-AAA, since it doesn’t have a football team. It does, however, have seven men’s teams and seven women’s teams, including men’s and women’s basketball teams that play all but four of their games against D-I competition.

A school like, say, Virginia Tech, which sponsors 16 varsity sports (at least half of which are women’s teams, and one of which happens to be an Atlantic Coast Conference football champion) would be Division I-A.

Division II (Virginia Union) and III (Randolph-Macon) schools can sponsor just 10 sports. D-II can go half-and-half on men’s sports, or play six women’s sports and four men’s sports. D-III has to sponsor three team sports for both men and women.

What do all the divisions have in common? Dues. D-I schools pay $1,800 a year . D-II and D-III schools can get over on $900.