The Division II Baseball Committee says regionalization is here to stay. Get used to it.

And to accentuate that process, the committee revamped its championship selection criteria during its annual meeting June 26-28 in Indianapolis.

The new criteria, divided into primary and secondary categories, place more emphasis on the cornerstone of Division II's philosophy of equal regional representation at the national championship level.

"We wanted to emphasize that the Division II philosophy is based on the regionalization of teams," said Gary Rundles, head baseball coach at the University of West Alabama and chair of the committee. We didn't feel our criteria were supporting that philosophy."

Five of the seven categories now listed as primary factors in team selection have an in-region tilt: Division II in-region won-lost record, conference standing and record, power rating index (PRI), head-to-head competition, and common opponents.

The committee worked to give more weight to in-region results and focused on ways to encourage greater in-region competition. Additionally, the 2002 version of the PRI offers extra credit for Division II in-region victories.

"We've got a lot of coaches who don't necessarily like the (regionalization) philosophy, and that is not something we can do anything about," Rundles said. "It's certainly their prerogative to like it or not like it. What we've done, I think, is encourage them to accept it."

Results against teams already selected to the field -- or teams still under consideration at the time of selection -- compose an additional primary factor, along with the availability and eligibility of student-athletes.

Secondary factors are overall record, Division II out-of-region record, and team balance (for example, hitting, pitching, fielding).

"Something we don't want to exclude is the opportunity to continue playing out of your region, especially if teams want to play quality people," Rundles said. "But we felt the Division II philosophy would be better served with the new criteria."

The committee is giving no ranking order of preference within either the primary or secondary factors.

In other topics, the committee recognized Montgomery, Alabama, for offering another outstanding championship experience at the 2001 finals. New initiatives for student-athletes that were well-received included mementos and increased hospitality.

"We had a great tournament," Rundles said. "Attendance was up, the excitement was up, and the City of Montgomery did a fantastic job as far as hosting. We couldn't be more pleased."

Two additional losers' bracket games helped increase crowds by more than 2,400 over last year's total to 19,692, with the average per game nearly identical at 1,313. The championship is scheduled for Patterson Field through 2004.

The committee also is studying regional alignment with an eye toward the 2003 and 2004 baseball seasons, when as many as 15 Division II provisional members working their way through the legislative process will become active members sporting baseball programs.