8th Ranked West Region Steepler (Jordan Macintosh - Portland State) DQ’d From NCAAs Due To Coach's Mistake

40 man roster is not true, the team was down to about 15 eligible men to compete, and was using football players as stand-in sprinters to hit the 15 number. No one doubled back from conference, it was in another state. The Big Sky conference is one of the most competitive distance conferences in the NCAA, let alone it was at elevation (all of Big sky except PSU and Sac State compete at elevation) so the coaches did not want their athletes to be lapped or embarrassed at conference. So many men were injured, quit, or unable to compete for various other reasons. A website with roster photos doesn’t say all.

It’s crazy how misinformed people are…

the school is punished/fined!!!!

Schools get about 40k to “sponsor a sport” in this case meet the minimum requirement of meets with the designated number of athletes… if they don’t meet those requirements they don’t get the 40k from the NCAA and unfortunately their kid is also not eligible, you can be assured their admin is not happy about losing 40k, the coach may get fired but this also may not be a coaching issue, it could be a compliance office issue.

For those downvoting: I hope you're not doing it based on the numbers, as the math checks out here.

The NCAA Sport Sponsorship Revenue Distribution Fund for DI is ~$76 million. There are ~6,700 total sponsored sports in NCAA DI, spanning across ~350 schools. The distribution fund is only for those sports that go beyond the NCAA DI minimum (14). Taking out the 14 required sports for those 350 programs, we are left with ~1,800 "additional" programs. Those are the ~1,800 programs that receive a piece of the fund. $76 million divided by 1,800 is ~$42,000.

Portland State sponsors 15 sports. Unfortunately for PSU, indoor and outdoor track count separately, so this error drops them to 13 (below the DI minimum). There is the issue of Jordan not being able to run at NCAAs. There is the issue of the aforementioned ~$40,000. But there is also now the issue of the department's failure to meet the DI minimum of 14 sponsored sports.

So what does this mean? In short nothing...unless PSU fails again next year. For now, the department will be in a one-year probation, with stricter punishments coming (including postseason ineligibility) if 2023-24 goes awry.

From the NCAA Manual:

20.2.5.1.2 Failure to Meet Minimum Sports Sponsorship Criteria.
20.2.5.1.2.1 One-Year Probationary Period. An institution that fails to meet either the minimum men's or women' sports sponsorship criterion for its division shall be placed on probation for one year for its entire program(both men's and women's sports) in the next academic year after noncompliance with sports sponsorship requirements is discovered. An institution shall be afforded the one-year probationary period for failure to comply with sports sponsorship criteria only once in every 10-year period. The 10-year period shall begin the September 1following completion of the academic year in which the membership criterion is not met. (Revised: 1/11/89)

20.2.5.1.2.2 Application of Restricted Membership Status. If an institution fails to meet the sports sponsorship criteria at the end of the probationary year or is ineligible for the once-in-10-year probationary period, it shall be placed in restricted membership and shall not be eligible for NCAA championship competition in all sports (both men's and women's) in the first academic year after the probationary year (or the first academic year after failure to meet the requirements if the institution is ineligible for the once-in-10-year probationary period). If the institution still cannot certify compliance with the division criteria at the end of that year, it shall forfeit its membership in the Association. (Revised: 1/11/89, 1/15/11 effective 8/1/11)

Stan State didn't get help when Sacramento State canceled two meets shortly before they were scheduled. Teams had to scramble to find pop up meets at places like Fresno State.

Nobody feels bad for the school.

This is obviously a tough situation for all involved, most notably the student-athlete. I feel terribly for him. That part has been thoroughly discussed here.

And there has been plenty of animosity towards the coaching staff, some of it fair and some of it not. No need to pile on here.

What has not been touched on enough is how deep-rooted this issue is. It goes beyond the coaching staff. A few years ago, the administration at PSU made a decision to go with an all-distance model for track and field. They are obviously not unique in that decision. Right, wrong, or indifferent, many track and field programs go this route. What makes PSU unique is that it was an administrative decision, not a coaching one. Surely, the genesis of this move was budget related (fewer coaches, less equipment, etc.).

Whatever your opinion about this philosophy, there's no question that it makes it more difficult to sponsor the sport of track and field. You're taking a 21-event sport and reducing it to 5. Getting 14 athletes to compete in 8 different meets becomes more challenging.

All I'm saying is this: Let's put our rocks down for a moment and understand that this problem goes deeper than simply saying "FIRE THE COACHES!" Much of this is above their paygrade. Should the coaches have done better? Sure. And they would say the same thing. But there are systemic issues at play here and the solution is far more complex than what has been offered on these boards.