NCAA to allow teams to play 12 games per year

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA will allow football teams to play 12 games per year, but it won't enter the postseason playoff fray.

The board of directors approved proposals on Thursday that would add a 12th game to Division I-A schedules -- starting in 2006 -- allow schools to count one victory over Division I-AA schools each year toward bowl eligibility, and loosen the requirements to qualify for Division I-A status.

"The season will not be elongated, it just means the bye week would be taken out," NCAA president Myles Brand said. "Nor will it lead to any additional midweek games.

"But I seriously suggest you take up the tournament situation with the BCS."

The Bowl Championship Series has tried to pit the two best teams in a national championship game since the system was created in 1998. The NCAA has tried to avoid the playoff debate.

One argument against a football tournament is that lengthening the season could force student-athletes to miss more classes.

Myles Brand and the NCAA continue to avoid questions of a college football tournament. (AP)

Brand has supported academic reform since taking over as president in January 2003 and said Thursday that an additional football game each season won't create a problem.

Board chairman Robert Hemenway, the chancellor at Kansas, said schools could make more money with an extra game but he insisted that wasn't the only reason why the proposal passed.

"There was also a feeling that if you had another game, that it does give you some flexibility in your scheduling," he said. "A school like Oklahoma State, for instance, could possibly play a game in Tulsa or Oklahoma City and play to that fan base."

Brand said the extra money could also be used to help fund athletic departments that are losing money.

The board also adopted a resolution that strongly urged schools not to adopt the new Title IX Internet-based surveys, which the U.S. Department of Education said in March could be used to scientifically gauge whether schools must expand or create women's teams to meet demand.

"We felt that it was not true to the principles that have been in effect," Hemenway said.

The board also asked the NCAA executive committee to propose a comprehensive policy on alcohol advertising during college telecasts. Hemenway said the committee took that action after a lengthy discussion to include Division II and III events under any new standard.