NCAA Bans Indian Mascots From Postseason

Now if they would only ban them outright.

The NCAA banned the use of American Indian mascots by sports teams during its postseason tournaments, but will not prohibit them otherwise. The NCAA's executive committee decided this week the organization did not have the authority to bar Indian mascots by individual schools, committee chairman Walter Harrison said Friday. Nicknames or mascots deemed "hostile or abusive" would not be allowed on team uniforms or other clothing beginning with any NCAA tournament after Feb. 1, said Harrison, the University of Hartford's president. "What each institution decides to do is really its own business" outside NCAA championship events, Harrison said. "What we are trying to say is that we find these mascots to be unacceptable for NCAA championship competition," he added. At least 18 schools have mascots the NCAA deem "hostile or abusive," including Florida State's Seminole and Illinois' Illini. The full list of schools was not immediately released.

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