I don't believe it's an NC$$ rule, and if it is, it's easy to skirt. MSU had, in the past, played in two
holiday tournaments. Last season, the Spartans were committed to play in the Nissan/Jeep Classic at
UAA, when the school changed from trimesters to semesters, throwing off the exam schedule. So the
players had to do some big-time shuffling, and some bad things happened, including Anson Carter coming
down with mono.
 
Anyhoo, this new schedule, combined with State's lousy performance in the GLI the past five years,
means MSU will play in only one Xmas tourney from now on.