When the story first surfaced that the NCAA was considering a proposal to change its Division I-A membership criteria, Bowling Green coach Urban Meyer was livid.

Not because the Falcons failed to meet any of the proposed criteria, but because of the timing. After all, in the middle of October, when this was first brought to the public's attention, was the heart of recruiting season.

	“	Kids avoid I-AA like the plague. If there is a small I-A school and a power I-AA that a kid is deciding between, he'll almost always go to I-A because of the connection with the big boys. No matter what school it is. ”
		— Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming

Bowling Green was 4-2 at the time, en route to an 8-3 season, its best since 1994. On the way it became the first Mid-American Conference school to beat a team from three different Bowl Championship Series conferences in the same season, knocking off Missouri (Big 12), Temple (Big East) and Northwestern (Big Ten).

Yet Meyer figured that when he plopped himself on the couch in the living room of a recruit, all he was going to answer were questions about the NCAA proposal.

"When I first heard it, I was like, 'Oh shoot. We're going to have to deal with this again?' " Meyer said. "We we're going in to play Marshall that week, one of our biggest games of the year and all I was doing was interviews about I-A stuff. And it was like, 'What a minute.' "

Luckily, Meyer said, the question has yet to come up on the recruiting trail. Instead, he said recruits are more interested in talking about his team's recent success and where they fit into the future plans at Bowling Green. None have asked what the proposed I-A legislation possibly could mean.

"I have not heard a thing. Not one comment," Meyer said. "Perhaps that's because our attendance and interest doubled this year."

Perhaps it's also because of the proactive approach conference commissioners like the MAC's Rick Chryst are taking with this issue. When Chryst first heard the news, he said his reaction was similar to that of Meyers.

Amidst a season in which two MAC teams -- Marshall and Toledo -- are ranked in the Top 25 and headed to bowl games, Chryst was left answering questions about the proposal.

It was understandable, as nine of the 13 MAC schools failed in at least one of the proposed criteria (failing to average more than five home games against I-A opponents the past two seasons). Yet it was still exasperating.

"The timing of it all was frustrating, just a little frustrating," Chryst said. "Really, all the positive things that have happened this year are what's in the news for us. My job is to provide context for our coaches and schools and when the topic of standards comes up, whatever they are, we'll meet them."

Kent State head coach Dean Pees, who led his team to a 6-5 record, the school's first winning season since 1987, has taken a similar approach. With Kent State, the main concern is attendance. The Golden Flashes averaged 7,195 fans in 2001, last in Division I-A.

"The best way to approach it is to hit it head on and try to attack it before it attacks us," Pees said. "I don't wait for them to ask me about it. I tell them, 'There's positives and negatives about every school. Right now, one of our negatives is attendance and here's what we're doing to improve that.' That stops the questions about it because you've already dealt with it."

Another reason this doesn't appear to have effected recruiting much, recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said, is that the options are limited for many of the recruits being courted by these schools.

"MAC kids are MAC kids," Lemming said. "Those schools are pretty much recruiting the same types of players and kids that they always did. It's not like they are trying to go after a recruit in the Big Ten or something. Most of the kids probably don't even know the difference."

With that, Lemming said that if any Division I-A program were forced to retreat to I-AA due to failure to meet the proposed new requirements, it would certainly kill recruiting at that point.

"Kids avoid I-AA like the plague," Lemming said. "If there is a small I-A school and a power I-AA that a kid is deciding between, he'll almost always go to I-A because of the connection with the big boys. No matter what school it is."

A this point, Meyer said he believes the legislation is a "non-issue" for his program. He does take issue, however, with the timing of everything.

"People are not going to like what I have to say at the convention this year," Meyer said. "I have to watch how I say this, but I thought it was absolutely wrong. I just believe there is a certain time to discuss things and a certain time not to. To talk about this during the heart of the season and recruiting and all that is not very smart."

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