Two years of teamwork may be paying off for Division II soccer -- in actual dollars.

The Division II Men's and Women's Soccer Committees, which will administer combined-site championship finals for the third consecutive year, have been asked to submit action plans and a recommendation why the two championships should receive promotional funds from the Division II Championships Committee. News of the invitation was forwarded to both committees during their annual meetings February 4-8 in Phoenix.

The Division II Management Council has proposed earmarking $100,000 from the 2002-03 budget for promotional use and has asked the Championships Committee how best to allocate those funds. The Championships Committee is seeking more specific information from six finals sites: baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, football, men's and women's outdoor track and field, and men's and women's soccer.

"It's likely that four of the sites will be chosen to receive those dollars, although no amount per site has been decided," said Tom Jacobs, NCAA director of championships. "Having a combined championship at one site allows us to help two sports for the price of one, and soccer has shown a commitment to working together in the best interests of the sport."

In other business during joint sessions, plans for a combined championship banquet were discussed along with multiple formats for the finals. Committee members favor playing all four semifinal games the same day, followed by both title games two days later.

During two years in Miami Shores, Florida, the banquets were not associated and though all games took place at Barry University, separate playing dates were the custom. Two women's semifinal games were played Thursday, two men's semifinals Friday, and then single championship games Saturday and Sunday.

Both scheduling options remain a possibility for 2001, with the host school or agency likely providing input on which format it prefers.

The committees agreed that championship selection criteria should be consistent between genders, and will work toward that goal before the coming season. One proposed change from the men's committee would split the strength-of-schedule (SOS) index into two categories: regular-season SOS will be a primary factor; conference tournament SOS will be a secondary factor.

In addition, the committees asked NCAA staff to study possibilities for Youth Education through Sports (YES) clinics at the finals.

The men's committee discussed assigning a National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (NISOA) representative to serve as liaison to officials during the 2001 finals. The committee also spoke with NISOA about evaluations during the season that might assist in the selection of championship officials.

The women's committee also discussed:

Formatting the bracket to accommodate the new 24-team field for 2001. Three teams will be selected per region. The second- and third-seeded teams in each region will face each other in a midweek game, with the winner playing the top-seeded team over the weekend. Squad size was increased from 18 to 22 and the official travel party from 24 to 28.

Plans to work more closely with NISOA and regional assignors to get the best officials for the championship site. The goal is better evaluation of and feedback to the officials, at NISOA expense.

Minimum site requirements regarding such items as field dimension and amenities. An additional consideration of geographic location was added to the site-selection criteria.

Automatic qualification and noted implementation could take place when and if the bracket expands to 32 teams.

No realignment of teams for 2001.