DATE: Tuesday, October 28, 1997             TAG: 9710280430

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C10  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   56 lines

ATLANTIC 10 SCRAMBLING AFTER BU DROPS FOOTBALL GAPS IN SCHEDULES ARE THE TOP PRIORITY; THE NEXT QUESTION IS WHETHER TO GROW - OR CUT BACK IN SIZE.

Like union men reacting to a factory closing, the Atlantic 10's football coaches on Monday criticized Boston University's decision to drop the sport after this season, calling it rash and short-sighted.

``You think there'd be a place for football somewhere at BU, after 91 years,'' Richmond coach Jim Reid said. ``It's just very unfortunate.''

While coaches were offering sympathy to BU coach Tom Massalla and his players, the conference's athletic directors were getting down to the business of what to do about the sudden loss of a league member.

The ADs convened on a conference call Monday afternoon. The first issue on the agenda was repairing the 1998 schedule. Eight conference teams were scheduled to play BU next year.

Once that's done, the ADs must decide whether to replace BU with another school or shrink the size of the conference.

BU's departure leaves the A-10 with 11 teams next year. Connecticut is strongly considering moving to Division I-A in 1999, which would leave 10 teams.

``That would be the true Atlantic 10,'' Richmond athletic director Chuck Boone said.

A 10-team league would also allow every conference member to play every other, something commissioner Linda Bruno said is her preference. Currently, the conference is dividing into two six-team divisions. Schools play each team in their division and two teams from the other.

``It (10 teams) makes for better rivalries,'' Bruno said.

BU's decision took Bruno completely by surprise, she said. She learned about it by reading a newspaper story Monday morning. Just last year, when the Atlantic 10 football conference was formed by absorbing the old Yankee Conference, each of the league's members was asked to make a commitment to I-AA football.

Massalla said BU's decision - made by the university's board of trustees - was based on economics and on Title IX considerations.

The football team, which is 0-7 this year and 4-25 over the last three seasons, has been a financial drain on the athletic department. Plus, having a football team drives up the number of scholarships for male athletes. Under Title IX, the number of scholarships given to male and female athletes must be proportional to the percentages of men and women in the student population.

After announcing it was dropping football, the school added that it is allocating an additional $500,000 annually for women's sports.

Bruno said she was contacted Monday by officials from Hofstra University, a Division I-AA independent interested in joining the A-10.

Whether to admit Hofstra is up to the league's presidents, who will act on the recommendation of the athletic directors. A potential snag is that if UConn leaves after next season and Hofstra joins, the conference would have 11 members.

``Having 11 is a problem,'' Bruno said.

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