the point that hasn't been brought up here is that the number of waivers granted to programs that don't sponsor indoor could lead to schools dropping the sport.
i think you have to compete 14 athletes at 4 indoor competitions or something like that to sponsor indoor. which means you have to have at least 14 guys on your team, and you have to go to some meets.
has no one thought through the consequences of allowing schools that don't really sponsor the sport to compete at conference and national meets?
if i'm an AD, i'm looking at this and saying, we don't really need to sponsor men's indoor track, or outdoor track for that matter. we can just have one or two good guys on the team and they can go to nationals, instead of providing opportunities for a team of athletes to compete at meets (which costs money). how many more men's programs do we want to see disappear?
if you don't sponsor the sport, you shouldn't be at the championship. period. if schools want to be at the championship, they need to put their money where their mouth is and sponsor a team.