Mississippi State moved a step closer to extending the Southeastern Conference”s “cowbell compromise” after league coaches and athletic directors voted favorably Wednesday at the league”s annual meetings in Destin, Fla.
The amended artificial noisemaker policy went into effect last year, when the ban on cowbells in Davis Wade Stadium was still in place and MSU faced significant fines for failing to properly police usage.
A one-year trial was put in place last year at the SEC meetings. It was announced the plan would be re-evaluated based on how MSU fans complied with the policy that mandated appropriate times to ring cowbells.
With league coaches and athletic directors in favor of MSU keeping its tradition intact, the only hurdle left is a vote Friday by the university presidents to extend the compromise for another year.
“I”m optimistic, but I don”t want to say we have anything in the bag because the presidents will have to decide how to cast their votes,” MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin said. “I feel good to be where we are with it.”
League athletic directors voted 10-2 to do away with compromise and to ban cowbells. That was before league coaches got together later in the day and voted in favor, prompting league athletic directors to back the coaches.
“I didn”t really have a feel (before heading to Destin) for how other coaches and athletic directors felt about it,” Stricklin said. “Once we started having conversations here I started to feel better about it. It”s an opportunity to continue the education process with some of the other league members on why it”s important and how this gives us the best opportunity to manage the issue.”
Under the cowbell compromise, MSU fans are allowed to bring cowbells into Davis Wade Stadium– last year was the first time in 36 years — and ring them at designated times. Cowbells can be used before the game, between quarters, during timeouts, after scoring plays, and during possession changes.
Friday also could bring word of how much MSU could be fined for violation of the compromise from last season. MSU was notified in October it had violated elements of the compromise but wasn”t informed how much it would be fined.
Based on the SEC”s fine structure set last August, the fines stemming from violations from MSU”s two SEC home games against Auburn and Georgia can range anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. The fine for the first offense is $5,000. The penalty for the second is $25,000 and $50,000 for the third — the cap of the fine structure.
What constitutes a fine has been uncertain. MSU”s mission has been to educate and to inform its fans.
“We were just trying to find some common ground (last year),” Stricklin said. “I feel like we”ve found the common ground, and we”re look for an opportunity to get better.”
SEC eliminates divisions for men”s basketball
In an 11-1 coaches vote, the SEC will move to one division in men”s basketball for the 2011-12 season.
The coach who voted against it?
MSU coach Rick Stansbury, who has long coveted division titles and has led the Bulldogs to Western Division crowns since 2003.
The SEC went to a East-West division format following the 1990-91 season.
“I was a little surprised by that,” Stricklin said, “I thought it would be more mixed.”
The idea behind the change is to switch to an 18-game league schedule — teams currently play 10 division games and six games versus the opposite division teams — in an attempt to get more teams into the NCAA tournament.
“There”s not been a lot of conversation about it,” Stricklin said. “If the coaches had come in split, I don”t know what the ADs would have done. But I think when the coaches came in with that vote as strong as it was, I think the directors felt compelled to go along with it there.
Oversigning changes considered
The hottest topic has nothing to do with national championships or NCAA violations.
It has to do with what SEC Commissioner Mike Slive calls “fundamental fairness” to recruits.
Not all of his coaches agree.
Two years after the SEC limited its schools to signing 28 high school prospects, it is considering dropping the number to 25. Several coaches are against the proposal, saying it could hinder their ability to fill rosters with talent.
“I”m very comfortable with where it is at right now,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “For us to turn around a year later and want to change again. … I have my doubts about us having given it enough time to figure out if it”s broke or not. I”m comfortable with where it”s at.”
Oversigning has become a controversial issue in the SEC. Critics say it has led schools to “greyshirt” some prospects, making them delay their enrollment until January because there is no room on the roster. University of Florida President Bernie Machen called the tactic “morally reprehensible.”
University of Mississippi coach Houston Nutt has been oversigning classes for years, even when he was at Arkansas. He signed 37 recruits at Ole Miss in 2009, a move that raised eyebrows around the conference and the country.
He said the proposal would make coaches less likely to take chances on prospects who have borderline grades and test scores and might not gain entrance to a university.
“I have a soft spot in my heart when a (high school) coach says, ”All he needs is you. He”s had a few problems, but all he needs is you,” ” Nutt said. “We”ve had success stories that way. But we”re going to have fewer of those. If you say 25 … you can”t make mistakes.”
Nutt insisted he never has been over the class limit by the time school started in the fall, pointing out that some attrition happens every year.
The proposed legislation could be passed this week.
Associated Press reports were included in this story.
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