The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- June 21, 1999

New baseball championship format a hit with Division I

BY TY HALPIN
STAFF WRITER

When the NCAA's Division I Baseball Committee recommended expansion of its championship, the intent was to improve upon an already strong product.

Additional opportunities for student-athletes, increased exposure in more widespread geographic areas and a more exciting format leading to the College World Series was what the committee envisioned.

Mission accomplished.

In this, the first season with a 64-team field for the Division I tournament, attendance figures soared and positive comments flowed from the institutions involved.

"I think the new format is here to stay, judging by the reactions we've received," said Richard W. Rockwell, athletics director at Le Moyne College and chair of the committee. "We had more support than we anticipated. The new system has been very well-received around the country."

Fans attended in droves and student-athletes, coaches and administrators embraced the new system that featured 16 four-team regional sites, followed by eight two-team, best-of-three "super regionals." The super regionals were played to near-capacity crowds, and regional attendance also was solid.

At Texas A&M, where the Aggies played host to both preliminary rounds, attendance was tremendous. Athletics director Wally W. Groff, a member of the committee, said he was encouraged with what he saw first-hand.

"From the point of view of an athletics director, it was fantastic," Groff said. "It added a little flair to have two teams fighting for the spot in Omaha. Our fans really were supportive and our staff did a tremendous job."

And from a committee member's point of view?

"I haven't heard a negative comment so far concerning the format," Groff said. "I think it was a fair system that created an extra week of exposure and excitement for college baseball."

Texas A&M led the charge in terms of attendance. The Aggies drew an average of 6,100 for regional play and 7,626 for the super regional contests.

When compared to the average attendance per session at past regional sites, this year's numbers are encouraging.

At the 22 super regional games, 103,611 fans pushed through the turnstiles, an average of 5,180 per game. That brought total pre-College World Series attendance for the tournament to 426,370 for 124 games, an average of 3,438. Without the super regional system a year ago, the entire tournament -- including the College World Series -- drew 463,995.

"We expect around 200,000 again at the College World Series, so obviously attendance has been very positive," said Dennis L. Poppe, the NCAA's director of championships.

Travel costs contained

Although the final accounting will come later, it appears that the changes were accomplished without netting any additional expense. Credit would go to additional revenue from ticket sales and effective controls on travel costs.

In 1998, nine teams bused and 39 teams required air travel in the regional round. This year, with an additional 16 teams, 25 teams took buses while 39 squads had plane trips.

"Proportionally, this year was actually better," Poppe said. "It helped to have schools close to their geographic region."

The committee reached its goal of holding tournament competitions at more Northern locales. Ohio State and Notre Dame played host to regionals, and the Buckeyes also hosted a super regional.

"I know our experience (was) very good," said Archie Griffin, associate athletics director at Ohio State. "We had very good crowds, even with a professional golf tournament in town. I think having the regional at a more Northern school helped attendance."

The new format did produce skeptics who pointed to three super regionals that pitted teams from the same conference. Southeastern Conference teams Alabama and LSU met, Big 12 Conference rivals Baylor and Oklahoma State faced each other and the Pacific-10 Conference's Stanford and Southern California squared off.

To avoid matchups in the first round of regional play, the committee did not place conference opponents in the same region. Additionally, if any of the 16 top-seeded teams were in the same conference, those teams were bracketed so they would not meet until the College World Series.

Oklahoma State, LSU and Southern California were No. 2 seeds that advanced after upsetting a regional top seed.

Poppe likened the super regionals to the final eight of the NCAA basketball tournaments. The regional final round is the first time teams from the same conference may meet.

Seeding of the baseball tournament began in 1988. This year, the committee seeded only the top eight teams. Seven of those eight teams advanced to Omaha.

Another change this season came with the College World Series. Since 1988, the committee reseeded the eight teams that qualified for play in Omaha.

This year, the field was set into brackets, which allowed teams and fans to see potential matchups in the College World Series at the start of the tournament.

"The committee felt strongly that reseeding was no longer the best thing for the tournament," said James F. Wright, the NCAA's director of statistics and media coordinator for the College World Series. "The feedback we've had from student-athletes, coaches and administrators has been very good."

Next steps

With geography allowing some institutions the opportunity to play closer to home, ticket issues now need to be addressed, Poppe said.

"We have to look at a way to reserve more seats for opposing teams," Poppe said. "Many of our sites were sold out and the number of tickets we are reserving for opposing teams is not adequate."

Per committee rules, 200 tickets are held for visiting schools. This number will likely be adjusted for the super regionals and perhaps regional play.

The committee will evaluate the entire system at its annual meeting this summer. All aspects of the tournament will be reviewed with the intent of finding the best possible system.

"There may be some tweaking in the future," Wright said. "We will look at the whole system. So far, though, I have heard nothing but positive comments."

1999 Super Regional Attendance

Site -- Games -- Att. -- Avg.

Texas A&M -- 3 -- 22,879 -- 7,626

Rice -- 3 -- 19,244 -- 6,415

Florida St. -- 2 -- 10,355 -- 5,177

Miami (Fla.) -- 2 -- 10,274 -- 5,137

Baylor -- 3 -- 14,307 -- 4,769

Alabama -- 2 -- 8,214 -- 4,107

Stanford -- 2 -- 7,450 -- 3,725

Ohio St. -- 3 -- 10,888 -- 3,629

Totals -- 22 -- 103,611 -- 5,180

1999 Regional Attendance

Site -- Games -- Att. -- Avg.

Texas A&M -- 7 -- 42,730 -- 6,104

LSU -- 7 -- 36,195 -- 5,171

Wichita St. -- 7 -- 33,037 -- 4,720

Arkansas -- 7 -- 29,596 -- 4,228

Alabama -- 6 -- 19,923 -- 3,321

Texas Tech -- 7 -- 19,869 -- 3,312

Baylor -- 5 -- 14,659 -- 2,932

Auburn -- 7 -- 19,471 -- 2,820

Miami (Fla.) -- 6 -- 16,398 -- 2,733

Ohio St. -- 6 -- 15,452 -- 2,575

Stanford -- 6 -- 15,214 -- 2,536

Florida St. -- 6 -- 15,153 -- 2,526

Wake Forest -- 7 -- 16,761 -- 2,394

Houston -- 6 -- 11,635 -- 1,939

Notre Dame -- 6 -- 8,801 -- 1,467

Southern

California -- 7 -- 7,595 -- 1,085

Totals -- 102 -- 322,759 -- 3,164

Combined total for

regionals/super

regionals -- 124 -- 426,370 -- 3,438

1998 Regional Attendance

Site -- Games -- Att. -- Avg.

Florida St. -- 10 -- 19,407 -- 1,941

Texas A&M -- 11 -- 51,715 -- 4,701

Clemson -- 11 -- 13,887 -- 1,262

Wichita St. -- 11 -- 49,703 -- 4,518

Florida -- 11 -- 22,965 -- 2,088

LSU -- 10 -- 67,938 -- 6,794

Stanford -- 10 -- 21,688 -- 2,169

Miami (Fla.) -- 11 -- 12,331 -- 1,121

Totals -- 85 -- 259,634 -- 3,055