The soccer coaches at Ocean State University (OSU) would like to go watch a first round game in the NCAA soccer tournament. An institution in the area is hosting a team that OSU will be playing this spring during the non-championship segment.
Is it permissible for the OSU coaches to attend the NCAA tournament game since they will be playing one of the teams in the spring?
Yes. NCAA Staff Interpretation- 8/13/13- Scouting Restrictions not Applicable to NCAA Championships (I) – states that the off-campus, in-person scouting prohibition does not preclude an institution’s coaching staff from attending an NCAA championship contest in which a future opponent participates (e.g., an opponent on the institution’s nonchampionship segment schedule participates in a fall NCAA championship).
[Reference: NCAA Division I Bylaw 11.6.1 (off-campus, in-person scouting prohibition)]
