The Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee reviewed the 2002 championship during its June 4-7 meeting in San Francisco.

The committee also reviewed arrangements for the anticipated expansion to a 16-team Division I championship.

The Division III Men's Ice Hockey Committee met at the same time and spent the bulk of its meeting discussing potential championship brackets and formulating proposals for the Division III Championships Committee.

The 2002 Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship set records for attendance, earnings and television ratings. Attendance for the Men's Frozen Four, held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, totaled 57,966, breaking the old mark of 54,355 (set in Boston in 1998).

The championship is expected to earn more than $1 million when final financial reports are processed, significantly more than the previous high of $824,776, also achieved in 1998.

The 2002 championship game between the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and the University of Maine, Orono, was watched by an estimated 899,000 households, breaking the previous mark of 730,000 that watched the 1998 final between the University of Michigan and Boston College. All told, the 2002 Men's Frozen Four registered 3.27 million viewers for the three contests, besting the 2.97 million viewers who tuned in for the 1998 finals.

"Our committee, the student-athletes, coaches and fans have just experienced the greatest year ever in Division I men's ice hockey," said Jack McDonald, director of athletics at Quinnipiac University and chair of the committee. "The long-awaited expansion to 16 teams is now a reality, we set attendance and revenue records, and we conducted the most-watched Frozen Four ever. Bracket expansion will allow more student-athletes to compete at the NCAA championships and also provide more venues for fans to see our exciting game live and on television."

Preparing for a bigger field

With the pending bracket expansion, the committee made several decisions in preparation for the 16-team field. The bracket expansion awaits approval from the Executive Committee, which meets in August. The addition of four teams allows the championship to have four four-team regional sites instead of the current system, where six schools play at two regional sites. In the past, four teams received byes in the tournament due to the unbalanced number of spots.

For the 2003 championship, the committee voted to return to a 30-minute television selection show. Last season, the selection show lasted 20 minutes and aired at 9 p.m. Eastern time, allowing conferences to play tournament finals on the afternoon of selections. The 2003 selection show will air at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, March 23 on ESPN2, allowing for more exposure nationally as well as better local media attention.

The committee agreed on names for the expected four regionals. The regional sites will be named East, Northeast, Midwest and West. In 2003, Boston University will host the Northeast regional in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the Centrum Center, while the University of Michigan will host the Midwest Regional at Yost Ice Arena. In 2004, the East Regional will take place at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York, while the West Regional will be held at the Colorado Springs World Arena.

The committee recommended the additional two sites for 2003 and 2004. Those recommendations are subject to the approval of the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, which meets June 25-27 in Indianapolis.

In other future-site news, the committee decided to solicit bids for hosts of the 2007 and 2008 Men's Frozen Four during the fall, with finalists presenting to the committee at its 2003 summer meeting in Indianapolis.

The committee also spent time improving and changing the selection criteria. The committee decided to alter the method of selection slightly, eliminating a team's record in the last 16 games as one of the criteria. The committee also changed the definition of teams under consideration from having a .500 won-lost percentage to having at least a .500 mark in the Rating Percentage Index.

Division III actions

The Division III Men's Ice Hockey Committee recommended that all rounds of the championship be single elimination. This proposal was made to make the bracket consistent throughout and provide equal opportunities for each team in the tournament.

Under the current structure, a preliminary-round game is played (single elimination). In the quarterfinal round, a two-game series with a mini-game (if necessary) is played, allowing a different opportunity for those teams. The winners of the quarterfinal round meet in single-elimination semifinals and final.

The committee noted that the two teams playing in the preliminary-round game have one opportunity to advance, while the quarterfinalists have two. The group also noted that the current structure creates a feeling that the "play-in" game is not as important as the rest of the tournament.

Additionally, the committee noted that a single-elimination format would result in fewer days of missed class. The student-athletes would be participating in a contest on a Saturday, as opposed to the current Friday-Saturday format.

The committee also forwarded three recommended bracket proposals. In each bracket, the preliminary-round game would be held in the East region. Last season, the preliminary-round game was in the West region, where fewer schools play and have the opportunity for at-large consideration.

The proposed brackets allow for both the East and West regions to have two teams advance to the semifinals. The only time this would not be the case is when only two teams from the West qualify for the championship. The committee believes it is important for the West region to have the opportunity to host the championship as well.

These recommendations will be discussed at the next Division III Championships Committee meeting.

In other action, the committee recommended Robert Emery of Plattsburgh State University of New York as chair, replacing Dan Harris from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Other highlights

Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee
June 4-7/San Francisco

Changed the weighting of the current Rating Percentage Index (RPI) system. In the past, the RPI weighting was based on 35 percent winning percentage, 50 percent strength of schedule and 15 percent opponents' strength of schedule. The group voted to make the breakdown 25 percent winning percentage, 50 percent strength of schedule and 25 percent opponents' strength of schedule.

Determined that children 2 years old and younger will be allowed into all championship contests for free with a paying adult, pending approval by the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet. This will allow young children to sit on the laps of their parents, who would not have to pay for a ticket.

Recommended Ian McCaw, director of athletics at Northeastern University, as the new chair of the committee, effective September 1, 2002. In addition, the group welcomed Ron Mason, longtime ice hockey coach and current athletics director at Michigan State University as the Central Collegiate Hockey Association representative. Canisius College Athletics Director Tim Dillon also will join the committee September 1 as the representative from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.