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Central Michigan gets two-year waiver to have just five men's teams

Central Michigan has received a waiver from the NCAA regarding the minimum Division I sports sponsorship requirements, it announced Thursday.

Division I schools are not supposed to have fewer than six sports for male athletes.

CMU announced last month it was dropping men's track and field, citing university-wide budget cuts. That leaves the school with five men's teams -- baseball, basketball, cross country, football and wrestling.

"This waiver has been granted for the 2020-21 and the 2021-22 academic years," athletic director Michael Alford said in a statement. "We continue to research and determine the best course of action to return the department to full compliance. I want to thank the NCAA staff for making this an efficient process and for understanding the difficult decisions the COVID-19 pandemic has forced our department to make."