The Division II Football Committee has developed a regional realignment plan in conjunction with the upcoming playoff field expansion in 2004.

At its meeting February 6-9 in Key West, Florida, the committee finalized the plan that Division II members of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), conference commissioners and the Division II Football Issues Project Team will review.

After the review, the committee will send its recommendations to the Division II Championships Committee for consideration at its June 2003 meeting. The playoff field will increase from 16 to 24 teams in 2004.

The committee also recommended a change to the strength-of-schedule component of the team selection criteria for the playoffs, based on feedback from coaches at the 2003 AFCA convention and members of the regional advisory committees. The Championships Committee will consider the recommendation in June.

The committee also set a date formula of having the championship game played on the Saturday of the 16th week after the first permissible playing date each season. That means that five times in each seven-year cycle, the game will be held on the second Saturday of December, similar to the current playoff schedule.

The Shoals National Championship Committee of Florence, Alabama, was commended for its continued commitment as a sponsoring agency for the title game. The 2002 contest between Grand Valley State University and Valdosta State University had the highest attendance (7,812) for a Division II championship game since 1999.

In other actions, the committee:

Recommended to the Division II Championships Committee that an alternate official be assigned to each playoff game from the agency that assigns officials for the host institution during the regular season.

Reviewed the 2002 regular-season polling process and decided to maintain the same schedule for 2003, with the first conference call to take place in early October.

Forwarded a site recommendation for the 2005 championship game to the Division II Championships Committee.

Strongly encouraged conferences to have their supervisors of officials attend the annual Divisions II and III officiating clinic conducted by the NCAA Football Rules Committee in July.