The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- June 21, 1999

Basketball committees align championship administration

The NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Committees conducted a joint meeting for the first time in order to align policies and procedures for the Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Championships.

The two groups, meeting June 8-11 in Lake Tahoe, California, discussed and unified several differences in the way the championships are administered. Although a few policies, including the strength-of-schedule index, the number of players selected to the all-tournament team and number of tickets granted to participating teams will remain different, the two committees reached agreement on many issues to help alleviate confusion for participating institutions.

The process by which officials are chosen and rated will be the same for both championships next year. At the Women's Elite Eight, the committee will keep officials in crews for quarterfinal games only. Officials will be evaluated and advance to semifinals and the championship game as individuals.

The women's committee also voted to list all site-selection criteria in the handbook similar to the section already instituted by the men.

The men's committee will be listing its Elite Eight practice schedules to be consistent with the women's championship. Also, home teams will be chosen according to the squad listed at the top of the bracket rather than by a coin toss.

Also, a joint proposal will be forwarded to the Division II Championships Committee to increase the official travel party from 20 to 22.

The committee also conducted separate meetings, and details of each are listed below.

Men's committee

The Division II Men's Basketball Committee reviewed bid presentations from four cities vying to host the championship in the years 2001-05.

The committee heard presentations from current host Louisville, Kentucky, along with groups from Bakersfield, California; Lakeland, Florida; and Evansville, Indiana. The committee found all of the bids competitive and intends to send representatives to review the three sites that have not been utilized in the recent past.

No determination has been made as to whether each bidding city would be granted a year to host if each site is acceptable or if any combination of awards would be named, such as 2001-02 at one location and 2003-2005 at another. Site visits are being scheduled for early August and a decision is expected to be announced later that month.

The committee also voted to adjust its strength-of-schedule index in an effort to encourage scheduling of Division II schools. In the past, the schedule did not account for games played outside of Division II. Now, however, a team collecting a victory over a non-Division I or Division II institution will receive seven points on the 15-point scale. This point total is equal to the best loss point total possible. A loss to a non-Division I or Division II school will be worth three points. The severity of the penalty, according to the committee, should be an incentive for institutions to make Division II scheduling a priority.

A win over a Division I school is worth 15 points and a loss is credited as seven points. Against Division II schools, dual members or provisional institutions, the point scale remains the same.

Jim Seward, a representative from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), met with the committee to follow up on coaches' concerns about the strength-of-schedule index.

The committee also will be working with the NABC in the future to include updates in the organization's publication and hold annual conference calls with the NABC Division II Congress to maintain communication with the group.

Finally, the committee voted to recommend that all 21 eligible conferences receive an automatic berth into the championship. The committee also voted to add more specific requirements for team and officials locker rooms in the site-selection criteria for 2000.

Women's committee

In an effort to guarantee all teams equal access to pregame warm-ups, the Division II Women's Basketball Committee adjusted practice schedules so that teams playing the first game of a session do not receive more court time than other participants.

Under the former schedule, teams playing in the first game of the second session would get a 30-minute warm-up in the morning and an hour on the court before game time -- assuming the first session did not run late -- which was more than any other squad.

The schedule change gives every squad, including the first-game participants, a 30-minute morning practice and allows only 30 minutes on the court with balls before any game.

All pretournament practices will be reduced from one hour to 55 minutes in order to assure that all teams will be able to begin practice on time and maintain the predetermined schedule.

The committee also voted to make practice the day before competition open to the media at both the Elite Eight and at regional competition to accommodate media needs. The Tuesday practices of the Elite Eight also will be open to the general public.

In other actions, the committee will forward the following recommendations to the Division II Championships Committee: