The Division II Championships Committee has recommended extensive increases in bracket and field sizes for Division II team and team-individual championships.

At its January 11-13 meeting in San Diego, the committee recommended increasing bracket sizes in three team championships and field sizes in seven team-individual championships. In addition, it recommended a four-team bracket for the new Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship.

The recommendations for the team championships, along with the anticipated additional costs, are:

Women's field hockey -- From two to four teams ($23,000).

Men's lacrosse -- From two to four teams ($24,000).

Women's lacrosse -- New four-team championship ($70,000).

Women's volleyball -- From 32 to 48 teams ($174,000).

The recommendations for team-individual championships field-size expansions, along with their anticipated costs, are:

Men's and women's cross country -- From 132 to 184 competitors in each championship ($92,000). The number of regions would expand from six to eight, with at least two teams and two individuals qualifying from each region. Eight teams would be selected at large, resulting in 24-team fields for both the men's and women's championships.

Men's and women's indoor track and field -- From 126 to 154 competitors in each championship ($10,000). There would be a minimum of 12 competitors per event, with two preliminary rounds and a final in each event.

Men's and women's outdoor track and field -- From 236 to 310 competitors in each championship ($92,000). There would be a minimum of 16 competitors per event, with two preliminary rounds and a final in each event. (Institutions may be reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses for the indoor or outdoor track championships, but not for both. The anticipated expense figure is based on the fact that about 85 percent of reimbursement is made currently for outdoor track and field.)

Wrestling -- From 140 to 160 competitors (16 in each weight class) ($15,000).

The committee also recommended a change for determining bracket sizes in team sports. The current formula sets bracket sizes based on the percentage of the Division II membership that sponsors a sport (as follows):

Percent Bracket size

95 - 48 teams

80-95 32

50-80 16

25-50 8

25 or less 2

The committee noted that the influx of new Division II members will not change the percentages, thus potentially leaving more teams competing for fewer berths.

In the alternative, the Championships Committee is recommending to the Division II Management Council that Division II return to a ratio system for determining bracket size. The effect would be that bracket sizes would be determined by the actual number of institutions sponsoring a sport, rather than by a percentage.

The committee also reviewed and, in some cases, adjusted recommendations first made at its September meeting:

Because of the anticipated increases in championship brackets, the anticipated cost of providing mementoes to members of official traveling parties will be $199,250, up from $176,150.

All team championships will be permitted to fly game officials to the championship site if necessary.

The size of the official travel party for team championships will be determined by adding six to the current squad size. An exception would be football, which would be permitted 18 beyond the squad size. Also, the squad size for women's volleyball would be increased from 12 to 14, resulting in a travel party size of 20.

Awards would be provided to the top eight place finishers in individual events, rather than the top six.

The committee also will recommend that per diem be provided for two days in advance of all team championships. That is the current policy in the men's and women's basketball, football and baseball championships.

The financial impact of all of the Championships Committee recommendations would be about $1 million annually. Funding is expected to be available since the division anticipates $4.2 million in unallocated surplus by the end of the year and since bracket expansion is one of the major items in the Division II strategic plan.

Other highlights

Division II Championships Committee January 11-13/San Diego

Agreed to designate a predetermined site for the South regional of the Division II Baseball Championship. Member institutions in that region are waiving the opportunity for the No. 1-seeded team to host.

Established minimum site-selection criteria for the women's soccer and softball championships.

Denied a request to seed the field hockey and men's lacrosse championships. The denial means that two teams from the same region will not be able to meet for the championship. The policy also will apply to the women's lacrosse championship.

Added the 3,000-meter steeplechase to the women's outdoor track championship, effective in 2001.

Awarded Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania the 2001 Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships.

Agreed that in track and field, qualifying marks may not be accepted if the meet does not include at least two four-year institutions with at least 14 competitors per team per gender. A waiver opportunity would be provided for obvious exceptions. The policy is designed to control bogus "last-chance" meets.

Approved regional realignment in women's volleyball. The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will move from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes region in order to provide more equitable numbers within each region.

Denied a recommendation from the Women's Volleyball Committee for automatic qualification, but agreed to talk further with Division II team sport committees about automatic qualification for all eligible conferences.

Appointed Casey Baker, women's rowing coach at Florida Institute of Technology, as the Division II representative to the Women's Rowing Committee; appointed Diane Heydt, assistant athletics director and swimming and diving coach at St. Cloud State University, to the Division II Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee; and appointed Dianne Baker, women's softball coach at Texas Woman's University, as the Division II representative to the Women's Softball Rules Committee.

Considered a request from the Division II Conference Commissioners Association to start the championship selection process on Sunday nights rather than during the day on Sundays. The commissioners believe that such a change would permit some conference championships to be conducted on Sundays, thus increasing attendance and reducing missed class time for student-athletes.

Asked for an examination of the financial ramifications of increasing the Division II championship per diem from $65 to $70, $75 and $80.

Agreed to examine the financial ramifications of providing per diem for regional competition in the men's and women's golf and tennis championships.