Mizzou vs. Iowa: The NCAA Rules

♦ Mizzou Baseball dips its toe into the waters of inter-collegiate Fall baseball next weekend, hosting the Iowa Hawkeyes in a 2-game set. More and more schools have been doing this since it first was allowed by the NCAA by-laws a few years ago.

It's important to note, though, that the by-laws clearly limit the total intercollegiate games played in any school year to 56, meaning that any games played in the "Non-championship" segment (defined as anything after September 1st and prior to the established opening of the Championship season on the 3rd Friday in February), will count against the 56-game limit.

So the Tigers will be allowed only 54 games in the regular Spring schedule.

That's really not that great of a handicap, considering there are many schools doing the same thing.

Then again, maybe there's a better way:

♦ Should college baseball allow 'exempt' fall games? (collegebaseball360.com)

They do it in part to evaluate their players (especially the younger ones) in live competition, but some also do it because those fall games count against their 56-game limit in the spring- meaning the two or three games they play in the fall are two or three fewer games they have to schedule in the spring.

The time is right for the NCAA to take the fall games a step farther. It’s time to make three or four of these games “exempt” each year so that they do not count against the 56-game limit.

“I think certainly I’d like to see some exempt games,” Irish head coach Mik Aoki told me after the game. “Especially if you’re not spending a ton of dough, you know? It’s not like you’re going to try to fly to California and you’re not missing any classes. I really don’t see the harm in a couple of thousand dollars getting spent on a bus to go to Michigan State to play.”
It’s just good for college baseball.