The Division II Football Committee has recommended changes to the criteria for selecting teams to the championship, as requested by the Division II Championships Committee.

At its meeting February 6-9 in Palm Springs, California, the committee formulated the recommendations, which will be considered by the championships committee during its April 23 teleconference.

Since the Division III Football Committee met in Palm Springs on the same days, the two groups also held a joint meeting during that period. The discussion centered on possible ways to enhance attendance at the championship games, selection criteria for determining participants and championship-week activities.

The Division II committee noted that the 2001 championship game ranked fifth in television viewership among NCAA football championship contests since 1987. The number of households that watched a portion of the ESPN broadcast totaled 1,325,000.

In other actions, the committee:

Received information that the championships committee approved Florence, Alabama, as host of the 2002 and 2003 championship games, based on the recommendation of the football committee from its 2001 annual meeting. Florence has played host to the title game since 1986.

Moved the date of the first 2002 regular-season ranking conference call to October 7 to give the regional advisory committees more games from which to evaluate teams.

Approved the addition of the Wilson GST 1003 model to the list of official balls for the championship.