Northridge Likely to Alter Its Game Plan : NCAA convention: Legislation is passed prohibiting Division I schools from competing at Division II or III levels in football.

The Western Football Conference, among the strongest and most balanced Division II football alliances in the nation, was left facing a major overhaul after delegates had cast their votes Thursday at the NCAA convention in Nashville, Tenn.

Legislation was passed prohibiting Division I schools from playing football at the Division II or Division III levels beginning in 1993. The measure affects four of the WFC’s six teams, including Cal State Northridge.

Northridge Athletic Director Bob Hiegert, who voted against what was called Proposition 53, said the measure left CSUN with a few options but no concrete plans.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’ll have to take a close look at what our choices are.”

Other WFC members feeling the same pinch are Santa Clara, Cal State Sacramento and Southern Utah State.

Delegates softened the blow for some schools by passing a resolution creating a third classification of Division I football--Division I-AAA.

Levels already in place are Division I-A, which allows the maximum number of scholarships (currently 95; 85 beginning in 1995) and places minimum requirements on stadium capacity and attendance on its members, and Division I-AA, which, as of 1994, will have a scholarship maximum of 63 (currently, it is 70).

Guidelines for the newly established Division I-AAA level will be voted on at next year’s convention, but both Hiegert and WFC Commissioner Vic Buccola said Thursday they expect that the classification will be designated as nonscholarship.

Such a design would placate Eastern Division I programs such as St. John’s and Georgetown, which currently compete at the nonscholarship Division III level in football. But it would do nothing for programs in the West such as Northridge, which has plans to build a 30,000-seat multiple-purpose outdoor stadium.

In a nonscholarship setup such as the proposed Division I-AAA, the Matadors would be forced to travel to the East to find credible nonconference opponents or be left with games against small local colleges such as Redlands and Azusa Pacific.

Hiegert said that a nonscholarship alternative “would not be in (Northridge’s) best interest.” Buccola concurred on behalf of the WFC. “Division I-AAA just doesn’t look like a real option,” he said.

Buccola said that as many as nine Division I schools currently playing Division II football might introduce legislation at next year’s convention in favor of the status quo. He also he said he expected such an attempt to fail.

As he continued to ponder the day’s events in his hotel room Thursday, Buccola said the most attractive alternative for the WFC might be to make a jump to the Division I-AA level while retaining scholarship limits within the conference similar to the 40 allowed in Division II.

“I think that would be an excellent idea,” Buccola said, adding that the option would be discussed at the WFC meetings Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Southern Utah State.

“Everyone is working on an equitable solution,” Hiegert said. “I just hope it happens fast.”