The NCAA divides university sports into three divisions: NCAA Division I (D-1) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned. D-1 schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with larger budgets, more elaborate facilities, and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition. Division II is an intermediate-level division of competition in the NCAA. It provides an alternative to both the better-funded Division I schools which offer more scholarships and to the scholarship-free environment offered in Division III. Division III schools focus on providing students with athletic competition, and therefore provide no scholarships, as opposed to Division I schools which focus primarily on institution success. There are several Division II schools which enroll more students than Division I schools, just as there are many Division III schools which have more students than Division II schools - but the divisional differences are based primarily on institutional wealth and student financial assistance, so enrollment numbers play no part.
The critical differences in high school sports classifications in many states are beginning to mirror the differences at the NCAA level of competition. Public high schools cannot provide student financial assistance to students, but many private high schools can and do provide financial assistance including scholarships to students. Any public high school offers sports for the benefit of the kids, but many private high schools, like NCAA Division I schools, have sports for the benefit of the Institution.
Many public school supporters believe Oklahoma should re-classify high schools in the OSSAA according to student financial assistance offered by the schools. The current "enrollment-based" system of classification is not reliable for appropriate levels of high school competition in Oklahoma.
In 1987, I sat in the bleachers of Cameron Stadium in Lawton, Oklahoma, as the Aggies took on Carson-Newman Eagles of Jefferson City, Tennessee for the NAIA (Division II) National Championship. As the Cameron Aggies were securing their 30-2 victory in the waning moments of the game, the Cameron Fans were going wild in celebrating the win. At that particular moment as the clock wound down the final 30 seconds, a lone booming voice from behind me proclaimed "To be the best, you gotta beat the best!!! Aggies! and you ain't beat the best! Boomer! Sooner!" It was hilarious, as the loner was wearing an "O.U." sweatshirt and appeared to be inebriated. He was right, it's not as though the Cameron Aggies had just defeated the Oklahoma Sooners. Thank goodness for divisional football.
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