2006 NCAA Rules Book posted on-line

[The Roamin' Umpire]

Originally Posted by Badger05

"There are more HS officials working NCAA rules in the states of Texas and Mass then in ALL of NCAA combined. There are more games each season under NCAA rules in Tx and Mass thnan ALL of NCAA combined. But did TX and Mass. have any input at all????? Nope. "

I for one am not buying this one. You may have forgotten that DIAA, DII, NAIA, and DIII all use the NCAA Rules. Now I know that not many of them are on TV either, but I would guess that there are more NCAA teams using those rules than High Schools in Texas and Mass.

Well, a little Internet research turns up the following facts(1):

• Massachusetts has 401 high schools(2)
• Texas has 1518 high schools(2), apparently 772 of which have teams (3)
• There are 234 D-III college football teams (4)
• There are 147 D-II college football teams (5)
• There are 120 D-IAA teams (6)
• There are 119 D-IA teams (6)
• There are 91 NAIA teams (7)

I couldn't find a number for how many H.S. in MA have teams, but let's assume it's a bit lower fraction than TX. Since the number of schools in just Texas eclipses the total number of college teams, even when you figure in that college schedules can be a bit longer and that college games all use 6 or 7 officials, I'd have to say that TXMike was still right.

Now, the real counterpoint to TXMike's argument is that the NCAA is a college organization - high school associations may use their rules, but they're not the NCAA's constituents . Really, though, his point is still valid - the rule changes are directed at the big-name D-IA schools, and smaller (read: non-TV) games aren't given as much thought. (Or, to be fair, as much scrutiny.)

(1) Given the caveat that, as a good friend of mine likes to say, "The Internet knows everything, whether or not it's true."
(2) www.schooltree.com
(3) www.texasfootballratings.com
(4) www.d3football.com
(5) www.d2football.com
(6) www.espn.com
(7) football.victorysportsnetwork.com