The NCAA News - News and Features

March 9, 1998

Division II Football Committee looks at contract renegotiation

Concerned about the financial viability of its championship game, the Division II Football Committee agreed at its recent meeting to conduct a special meeting with representatives of the Shoals National Championship Committee (SNCC) to discuss renegotiating the current contract.

Robert Entzion, chair of the Division II Football Committee and director of athletics at North Dakota State University, and Stann Tate, NCAA assistant director of championships, will meet with the SNCC to discuss the current contract obligations; future proposals; new ways to market the event; and methods to attract more fans from the participating schools.

The championship game, which has been played for the past 12 years at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, has endured poor attendance at the last two championships.

In other actions, the committee voted to reseed teams after first-round competition in the championship. The committee noted that this will help in cases where a No. 4-seeded team defeats a No. 1 seed in the first round but may not be able to host because of the initial seeding.

The committee also voted to reduce the number of weekly polls from 11 to nine. The preseason poll will occur August 24 and the first regular-season poll will be conducted September 21. The committee decided not to rank the teams after the first two weeks of the season in order to examine results without having to judge teams that might play weak nonconference opponents.

These two recommendations are subject to the approval of the Division II Championships Committee.