We know that the NCAA has said that, in order to be a Division I-A football conference, you must have 8 full-time members, and they each have to average 15,000 attendance per game. This is a way to trim the fat and stop teams that have no reason to be I-A (Troy State, Buffalo, et al.) from moving up into that place.
Could this work for basketball, too? The NCAA at some point has to get irritated at the Savannah St's and IPFW's moving up all the time. Say, your conference must have 10 full-time members or you lose your automatic bid to the NCAA tournament? This could indirectly cause changes to some of the football conferences, and maybe even get rid of some D-I freeloaders.
Of course, the Ivy League would be granted special exempt status. Perhaps the other leagues which don't include State Schools (Patriot & West Coast) could be considered for this status as well.
What do you think?
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