But the proposal, designed to limit future migration, will effect plenty of current Division I-A schools as well. If it were effective immediately, as many as 30 of the current 117 I-A teams fail to meet the proposed criteria on attendance and scheduled home games, alone. Included in that group are nine schools from the Mid-American Conference, seven from the Sun Belt, five from the Western Athletic and three from Conference USA.

"Many of these schools balance their budgets on six or seven big-money road games. Now that they have to find teams to come to their place, that could be a $2 (million) or $3 million swing," said Charles Harris, chairman of the Division I Management Council and the commissioner of the I-AA's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. "At some point, this will give people an opportunity to take a serious look at their athletic budget and ask, 'Why are we doing this?' "

The financial effect
Many of the smaller Division I-A programs rely on the big-money payouts from road games against more established schools. If the NCAA were to require each I-A team to play five home games against I-A teams, that would limit the amount of big payout road games a team could schedule.

	Spartan players and fans were fired up when San Jose State upset No. 9 TCU in 2000.

"What this legislation does is put several football programs in jeopardy from existing," said San Jose State athletics director Chuck Bell. "And let me ask you: Who does that benefit? Not the kids. Not the coaches in the profession. Nobody."

Bell said he believes the new legislation could cost his school as much as $1 million a season. San Jose State, which has been a Division I-A program since the NCAA created the classification in 1978, relies heavily on big money games to balance the athletics budget. This past season, the Spartans played at Southern California, Colorado and Arizona State.

There is little question that revenue is greater in I-A. According to the NCAA, Division I-A football revenues for 1998-99 ranged from $411,000 to $32 million, nearly 15 times as much as the average I-AA school.

But I-A programs spend more as well, with the average program expending between $1.6 and $8.8 million for the 1998-99 school year. In Division I-AA, a football program costs between $230,000 and $2.8 million.

"Everybody is happy with their Yugo until they see a Saturn drive by," Harris said. "And we've created the circumstance where everybody wants a Saturn."

There's little question why. In just its first year as a Division I-A school, Troy State watched its revenue leap from $345,000 to $2.3 million with just a $900,000 increase in expenses.

In addition, Williams said, there have been other perks. Corporate sponsorships that were once selling for $5,000 are now going for as much as $30,000. Revenue from ticket sales is up 400 percent.

On the field, the Trojans upset Mississippi State, 21-9, handing the Bulldogs their third-worst loss of the season. And against No. 1 Miami, they trailed the Hurricanes just 17-7 at halftime, before losing 38-7.

"Athletics is sort of the front porch of the university," Williams said. "Being a Division I-A school really helps our exposure and is one of the first things a prospective student or donator will see."

Sankey said he believes the front porch analogy is one of the most overused in college sports. He cautions that people put too much emphasis on the role athletics play in academic success.

"Just because you have a nice porch doesn't mean that the rest of your house belongs in an upscale neighborhood," he said. "You better make sure you've got a nice house behind that porch."

Yet the perception that a Division I-A school is more credible than that of I-AA exists. Harris, chairman of the Management Council, said a handful of states, none of which he chose to mention, allow schools with Division I-A football teams to go before I-AA schools when it comes time to make presentations to the state legislature for university funding.

"In many cases there is this inherent perception that if you're not a I-A program, you're not as serious in your academic endeavors," Harris said. "It transcends what it really ought to mean. People look at I-A as a way to solidify who you are, when the reality is North Texas, at 5-6 or 6-5, whatever, is a long way from Texas A&M."

The repercussion
Whether or not this proposal sets out to accomplish what it's designed to do -- namely, limit the number of schools jumping from I-AA to I-A -- remains to be seen. Though the proposed legislation would severely hinder his program, Bell said he doesn't think it would force the Spartans to move down to I-AA.

Williams, on the other hand, said if the legislation were in place four years ago, he would have reconsidered the jump to I-A. The loss of big money games, like the three his school played this season at Nebraska ($475,000), Miami ($300,000), and Mississippi State ($300,000), could prove too costly to lose.

"I don't think you could do it," Williams said. "Your product is a I-AA football program. You could not do what they are asking you to do. You don't have the revenue source to pay for those things, so you need to create a natural bridge to I-A. This would have severely hindered that."

The preparation
Already, school and conference administrators are making contingency plans to ensure their teams will meet the requirements if they are passed. Many mid-major conferences already have begun scheduling negotiations with other mid-majors to ensure that each team meets the requirement of five I-A home games.

	“	If you can get here to I-A, you gotta get here. Ain't nobody that can convince me otherwise. ”
		— Troy State athletics director Johnny Williams

"We're already looking into it," said Wright Waters, commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference which has seven teams that failed to have five home games against Division I-A opponents the past two years. "We're aware of this coming, we see this coming and we're reacting appropriately."

MAC commissioner Rick Chryst has asked his schools to be proactive in their marketing strategies, in hopes of raising attendance.

"Whether or not there are new standards out there, this is something that our schools should be working on regardless," Chryst said.

At Troy State, meanwhile, the beat goes on. There's no turning back now. Next year, the Trojans will play at Arkansas ($425,000), Nebraska ($475,000) and Mississippi State ($300,000). And until the proposed NCAA legislation is passed, little will change.

"If you can get here to I-A, you gotta get here," Williams said. "Ain't nobody that can convince me otherwise."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at wayne.drehs@espn.com.