Officially, of course, there is no NCAA Division I-A or I-AA in college football anymore.

With the power vested in, well, itself, the NCAA vaporized those distinctions in December declaring everybody D-I and replacing the tags with the more cumbersome but less prejudicial Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) and Football Championship Subdivision (previously I-AA).

Such cosmetology, has not, however, ended the debate over how often the big kids (I-A, which grants a maximum of 85 scholarships) ought to pick on the others (I-AA, which awards up to 65).

Indeed, the possibility of being left with two I-AA opponents is one of the most disconcerting elements in the whole the University of Hawai'i scheduling fiasco. And it is fueling much of the uproar while we wait ... and wait for a schedule.

Some people look askance at even one I-AA team finding its way onto the Warriors' schedule, which is unrealistic given the realities of a 13-game season. Especially if UH ends up playing six games on the road. So, there is a place for I-AA Charleston Southern, which athletic director Herman Frazier said came to UH and wasn't secured through a mass e-mail blitz as a Charleston newspaper reported.

But, two I-AA opponents, should it come to that, would really be watering down the schedule, a disservice to the players, fans and bowl eligibility. Doubly so if one of the I-AAs ends up the season opener.

Frazier maintains that some, including Michigan, open with a I-AA opponent (Appalachian State). But the Wolverines also have Notre Dame, Penn State and Oregon in that first month, not Charleston Southern, too.

The spin out of UH would remind you New Mexico State is playing two I-AA foes. But, really, do you want to put UH in the same category with the Aggies, who were 0-12 just two years ago and have been struggling to beat somebody, anybody, ever since?

Here, booking two I-AAs will be taken as a sign of desperate straits. Not the best of advertisements heading into what should be a banner season ticket sale.

Elsewhere the perception will be worse: that UH was trying to pull a fast one and was afraid to play another team of note. Not the kind of message you want to be deduced while pushing a quarterback for the Heisman Trophy or campaigning for a place in the Top 25.

By any name — I-AA or Football Championship Subdivision — having two of them on UH's schedule would be an embarrassment.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.