UNO could end up in Division II now

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LSU Board to Consider New Revised Plan for UNO Athletics

BATON ROUGE---The LSU Board of Supervisors next week is scheduled to take up a revised plan for athletics at the University of New Orleans that includes allowing UNO to move to NCAA Division II competition.

In December 2009, the board authorized UNO to move from Division I to Division III because of the expense of maintaining an intercollegiate program in the face of struggling student enrollment figures and continuing state budget cuts. The Division III athletic conference UNO intended to join, however, declined to extend an invitation, forcing the university to look for an alternative. In addition, UNO projected future athletic department deficits of up to $1.6 million per year to continue Division I participation and red ink of $340,000 to $408,000 a year for Division III play versus a potential surplus of up to $250,000 by shifting to Division II.

Board members will be asked to adopt a resolution approving UNO's transfer to Division II "contingent upon the availability of funds" and providing that "no general operating funds of UNO shall be used to supplement the athletic budget without further approval."

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