The NCAA News - News and Features

August 18, 1997

New alignment in III baseball would affect four regions

The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has voted to propose new regional alignments that will affect institutions in four of the eight regions.

The committee, which met July 23-26 in Kansas City, Missouri, will recommend moving nine institutions from the Midwest to the West region in an effort to improve the ratio for the selection of participants to the championship. The institutions that would move to the West region are Austin College, Hardin-Simmons University, Hendrix College, Howard Payne University, McMurry University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Southwestern University (Texas), Sul Ross State University and Trinity University (Texas).

The committee also voted to recommend moving the members of the Presidents'
Athletic Conference from the Mid-Atlantic to the Mideast region. Those institutions are Thiel College, Washington and Jefferson College, Waynesburg College, and Grove City College.

In another matter, the committee will propose adding another day to the regional competition schedule to allow for inclement weather. In the new format, the last possible time a regional championship game would be permitted to be played in 1998 is Tuesday, May 19.

Finally, the committee voted to request one waiver of the 400-mile travel policy in pairing teams for regional competition. Currently, the committee can move four teams to other regions as long as the distance between the institution and the regional site is not greater than 400 miles. The committee will ask that it be allowed to move one team more than 400 miles to eliminate the possibility of conducting five-team regionals in the South and Mideast regions.

The committee stressed that regionals with odd-numbered teams create an unfair advantage for the team that receives the first-round bye. The committee noted the importance of quality pitching in any tournament format, and that one team having to use fewer pitchers creates a competitive advantage for that team.

The Division III Championships Committee will review the committee's recommendations at its October meeting.