Aloha,
What if anything can the UA and other top tier T&F SEC teams do to repeal the SEC John McDonnell rule of limiting each SEC team to only 30 athletes in competing for SEC championships?
To my knowledge, there is no other cap in any other sport except for T&F because of the John McDonnell and UA dominance.
How about limiting how many five and four star football players each SEC team can sign or have on the team?
UA…Campus of Champions
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Football has a limit on the total number of players including the total number of scholarship players and walk-ons. Whether a player is highly ranked or unranked they are computed in the number. The underlying reason is stated in different ways but the rule originates from the same reasoning that led to a limit on the number of participants a team can enter into an SEC championship. In track, as my less-than-perfect memory recalls, Oregon among the other track traditionalists was less candescent stating at the rule was to control McDonnell’s “misapplication” of the track championship. Again, as I recall, he simply continues to win with fewer athletes. Some might also remember there were complaints that he used foreigners (Irish) to win US National championships.
Aloha,
Totally understand about the limit of football scholarships.
I am being sarcastic.
Due to John McDonnell winning so many SEC titles, the SEC implemented the John McDonnell rule limiting the number of team entrants to the SEC T&F Championships to 30 athletes. This was to “level out” the playing field in a vain attempt to stop the UA from racking up anymore SEC titles.
However, no changes were made to any other sport in limiting the amount of top tier athletes from competing for any SEC titles. Bama and others can recruit and play an infinite amount of five and four star players in football. But Arkansas was limited to only 30 athletes to compete in the SEC Championships even though the UA has a greater amount which met or exceeded the SEC Championship qualifications. So the UA has to sit athletes who qualified for the SEC Championships with better times, better qualifications than athletes from other SEC schools. Total BS.
UA…Campus of Champions
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To me, the big rule change was when they made only the two top qualifiers in a regional to be in the national finals. So a school like Arkansas who had four at times in the finals, only two at most now and some top two in others conferences with lower times and measurements were in the nationals while faster guys who finished third in the regionals stayed home.
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I felt you likely had a bit of tongue in cheek…but I am still smarting from that baseball loss last night plus the field for the John McDonnell meet today. Between the Texas Relays and other meets the John McDonnell track meet does not enjoy the prestige it should and is pretty much a regional meet of small colleges and universities. Still, I will be streaming it shortly and only wish the SECN plus coverage had started 10 with the field events.
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