Strollo reps for Gateway

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Sometime today, Youngstown State Athletic Director Ron Strollo will be involved in his first conference call as a member of the NCAA I-AA Football Central Region Advisory Committee.

Strollo, who is in his sixth season as the AD for Penguin athletics, was nominated to be part of the regional committee by the Gateway Conference, of which YSU is a member.

The former Austintown Fitch High standout, who also played for the Penguins, has been representing the University and the Gateway on various national committees.

He is in his third year of a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, and this year he will also continue as part of the Division I-AA Executive Committee.

Strollo is one of six members on the Central Regional Advisory Committee. The others include Tim Van Alstine of Western Illinois, who chairs the committee, Brian Hutchinson of Morehead State, Don Kaverman of Southeast Missouri State, Mark LaBarba of Valparaiso and Rich McDuffie of Eastern Illinois.

The Central Regional Committee represents the Gateway, the Ohio Valley Conference and the Pioneer Conference.

"Anytime that you can represent your conference and your university on a national committee it is a big thing," said Strollo.

Van Alstine, as chairman, also is a member of the NCAA Division I-AA national selection committee, the group that actually selects the 16 teams who will compete in the I-AA post-season playoffs.

"Ever since I took this job I've always tried to get involved with as much as I possibly can within our conference and within the NCAA," said Strollo. "This is a regional advisory committee, but it will still put information into the national committee through our chairman," Strollo added.

Kerr also
on committee

Another familiar name on the regional committee from the South is Floyd Kerr, currently the athletic director at Morgan State.

Kerr was an assistant basketball coach under Dan Peters, also coached the Youngstown Pride and was an assistant athletic director at YSU before moving on.

According to Strollo, each regional committee will conduct a weekly teleconference on Monday afternoon until the selection weekend of Nov. 18-19.

"We will discuss, evaluate and rank the top 10 teams in our region," Strollo said.

Strollo was also quick to point out that his being on this committee could not have prevented the Penguins from being omitted from the playoffs last season.

"We have input to the national committee, but that's all," he said. "The final decision is still made by them."

This year's 16-team championship bracket will be announced on ESPNews at approximately 1 p.m. on Nov. 19.

Eight conferences receive automatic bids for their champions. They are the Gateway, Atlantic 10, Big Sky, Mid-Eastern, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern and Southland.

Three main
contingencies

The three main contingencies for the at-large participants include: won-lost record, strength of schedule and eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships.

The selection guidelines also indicate that there is no limit to the number of teams the committee can select from one conference.

A team that plays fewer than seven Division I opponents may be in jeopardy of not being selected, and teams that played all Division I opponents may get more consideration.

For teams to play host to first-round, quarterfinal or semifinal games, the host institutions must submit a minimum financial guarantee that includes $30,000 for first round, $40,000 quarterfinal and $50,000 for semifinals.

If the minimum guarantees are met by more than one team, then the committee will award the playoff spot to the higher-seeded team.

Other things that are taken into consideration include attendance history and potential, geographical location, quality of facility and championships operating costs.

Pete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write him at mollica@vindy.com.

Monday, October 2, 2006