The Division I Softball Committee will forward a recommendation to the Division I Championships/
Competition Cabinet to have eight eight-team regionals for the 2003 championship without any changes to the Women's College World Series format.

The proposal, developed by the committee in response to the new 64-team bracket during its annual meeting July 8-11 in Bonita Springs, Florida, also would allow for the committee to name regional sites two weeks before the regionals and require an increased guarantee of $10,000.

"With the extended notice for hosts, the committee thought a greater financial commitment was necessary," said Kathy Orban, associate athletics director at Western Illinois University and committee chair.

The recommendation to the cabinet for the 2004 championship would reflect the model Division I baseball currently uses. The tournament would begin with 16 regional sites with four teams each, followed by a super regional weekend that pits two teams per site in a best-of-three series. The regional weekends would remain on the same dates under the proposal, and the super regionals would be played over the Memorial Day weekend, which is when the Women's College World Series currently is played. The guarantee for a regional and super regional would be $5,000 and $7,500, respectively.

"This is the format the committee is really in favor of implementing, but 2004 is the earliest it could realistically be in place," Orban said. "The committee needed to be sensitive to television obligations, the current WCWS host's ability to sell tickets, and institutional budgets in such a short time frame."

The WCWS format also includes a recommended change for 2004. The tournament would be a true two-game elimination instead of the one-game championship final. The format would require four games on the first two days of the finals. Three games would be played the third day, two the fourth day, and one or two the final day. The championship game would include a team with one loss and one undefeated team. If the team with a loss were to win, another game would be played to determine a champion.

The committee began examining options for the championship in the spring with a survey to head coaches and administrators. Of the nearly 40 percent of coaches responding to the questionnaire, 42 percent most preferred moving the Women's College World Series a week later and adopting the 16/8 format.

The survey showed softball coaches were not in favor of moving the championship back one week unless it was for the additional week of the championship. Only 7 percent of the respondents wanted to maintain the current format and move the tournament back one week.

Eighty-two percent of respondents were in favor of moving the Women's College World Series back only one week, rather than two or three weeks.

The committee also forwarded a survey result to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) that indicated coaches would strongly favor (83 percent) practice starting January 10 or the first day of classes, whichever comes first. The coaches also favored (65 percent) a competitive start date of the second Thursday in February. Any proposals in that regard would need to be submitted through the Division I governance structure.

In other actions, the committee will eliminate regional rankings for the 2003 season. Women's volleyball is the only Division I sport that continues to publish the rankings on a weekly basis throughout the season.

The committee also is exploring bonus/penalty options for the Rating Percentage Index (RPI) that would further delineate quality wins, negative losses and strength of nonconference schedule.

"The parity in Division I softball is remarkable," Orban said. "The committee is looking for ways to help separate teams that appear to be very similar on paper."

Orban also said the committee is considering an opening ceremony, rather than a traditional banquet, to kick off the Women's College World Series in 2003. The evening would continue to include the all-American presentation from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

"There are many ways to help welcome our teams to the championship and invite the Oklahoma City community to enjoy a night at the field," Orban said. "It is just a matter of examining our options."