superman7515
January 9th, 2013, 10:09 AM
Much like the Delaware vs West Chester series, this longtime game is now coming to an end...
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/ncaa-rule-forces-vsu-spartans-end-tradition
Norfolk State will not play Virginia State in football next season, ending an annual tradition that began in 1962.
While the teams had planned to take a year off from the series in 2015, the application of an NCAA rule has resulted in voided contracts between the schools for games in 2013 and 2014.
The loss of the VSU games takes one of NSU's most well-attended games off the schedule and leaves the Spartans scrambling to find opponents, particularly for next year's opening. Over the past six years, all NSU wins and by an average margin of 27.5 points, the game has drawn an average of 20,316 fans.
"It's put us in a tough spot," NSU athletic director Marty Miller said. "It's caused us to scramble a little bit. We're... having discussions with a couple of schools, working hard and trying to come up with a replacement."
Miller said he's certain that he'll find a replacement game and that he could have a team in place within days.
The rule that voided the games has been in the Division II handbook since 2010, but VSU athletic director Peggy Davis said CIAA schools had been granted waivers by the NCAA in the past to play early-season games because the conference had lost members.
When going over Virginia State's upcoming schedule with then-head coach Anthony Faison in November, Davis said, they recognized the scheduled games were in violation of an NCAA bylaw. The rule prohibits a Division II team from "playing its first contest with outside competition before the Thursday preceding September 6." The Saturday games between the schools were scheduled for Aug. 31, 2013, and Aug. 30, 2014.
Davis said when VSU realized the problem, it reached out to the NCAA but was told it would need to request an individual waiver to play the game.
"That's a process," Davis said. "It would not have been fair to have Norfolk State hold up and wait through that waiver process."....
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/ncaa-rule-forces-vsu-spartans-end-tradition
Norfolk State will not play Virginia State in football next season, ending an annual tradition that began in 1962.
While the teams had planned to take a year off from the series in 2015, the application of an NCAA rule has resulted in voided contracts between the schools for games in 2013 and 2014.
The loss of the VSU games takes one of NSU's most well-attended games off the schedule and leaves the Spartans scrambling to find opponents, particularly for next year's opening. Over the past six years, all NSU wins and by an average margin of 27.5 points, the game has drawn an average of 20,316 fans.
"It's put us in a tough spot," NSU athletic director Marty Miller said. "It's caused us to scramble a little bit. We're... having discussions with a couple of schools, working hard and trying to come up with a replacement."
Miller said he's certain that he'll find a replacement game and that he could have a team in place within days.
The rule that voided the games has been in the Division II handbook since 2010, but VSU athletic director Peggy Davis said CIAA schools had been granted waivers by the NCAA in the past to play early-season games because the conference had lost members.
When going over Virginia State's upcoming schedule with then-head coach Anthony Faison in November, Davis said, they recognized the scheduled games were in violation of an NCAA bylaw. The rule prohibits a Division II team from "playing its first contest with outside competition before the Thursday preceding September 6." The Saturday games between the schools were scheduled for Aug. 31, 2013, and Aug. 30, 2014.
Davis said when VSU realized the problem, it reached out to the NCAA but was told it would need to request an individual waiver to play the game.
"That's a process," Davis said. "It would not have been fair to have Norfolk State hold up and wait through that waiver process."....