Division II prides itself as being about the virtue of balance, but even the most beautiful philosophical rose has its thorns.

In this case, the sticking point involves promotion and exposure. Those concepts lend themselves to extremes, but on the continuum of spectator interest vs. student-athlete participation, Division II falls proudly in the middle.

That fact can leave Division II in a difficult place. The membership wants its programs to grow, but they want the growth to be within a context. They want national exposure to spread their message, but they strongly believe in the regional underpinnings of the Division II philosophy.

All of that tension recently blossomed into a small controversy. Several members of the Division II Football Issues Project Team expressed concern that the 2002 Division II Football Championship, televised December 14 on ESPN, shared airtime with a Division I-AA Football Championship semifinal game. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Division II championship game had been the highest-rated NCAA fall televised championship for the preceding three years when it did not compete with another championship event. With the new arrangement, the Division II television rating dropped by 40 percent and fell behind the Division I-AA championship in terms of viewership.

"Everybody noticed," said one Division II administrator.

While the circumstance may prove to be a one-year aberration, the discussion that surrounded it nonetheless was interesting: How does the NCAA weigh the promotional and exposure interests of the overall Association against those of a component of the Association?

From the Division II perspective, the belief appears to be that a limited number of Division II national television exposures are acceptable as long as they are quality opportunities.

"We have very little opportunity for national exposure, and like any division, Division II would like to have as much exposure for those opportunities as possible," said Mike Marcil, commissioner of the North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and a member of the Football Issues Project Team. "We appreciate the opportunity we have, and we certainly recognize that the great majority of televised events are going to be Division I events, but when we do get our football and men's and women's basketball games on national television, we hope that it would be during a window of time that it would not be up against other NCAA championships, as much as the NCAA can control it."

Without a doubt, Division II faces unique challenges when it comes to the public's understanding of its mission. The public has a perception that the NCAA is made up of large programs that provide entertainment and small programs that have a participation emphasis. While those perceptions are oversimplified, they nonetheless exist and tend to reinforce stereotypes about Divisions I and III.

But Division II believes that it has a valuable model that provides entertaining, quality athletics competition in a way that successfully integrates student-athletes into the general student body. The problem is that the public has come to think of the participation vs. entertainment models as an either/or question. It is a false dichotomy for all three divisions, but it is especially counter to what Division II is seeking to accomplish. It therefore is left with the difficult task of explaining itself to the public in a way that no other division is required to do.

"I think there's some truth in that," said Mike Racy, Division II chief of staff. "While an overall promotion of college football or college basketball benefits the entire membership, a reasonable person might conclude that most of the benefit goes to Division I because that's where most of the media attention is focused. On the other hand, Division III is probably comfortable with an implied perception that it is principally about participation."

Since Division II's philosophy is intensely regional, it is ironic that one key way to communicate and promote its mission is through national broadcast opportunities.

"We need to continue to educate people about what a good product Division II is," said Herb Reinhard, director of athletics at Valdosta State University and another member of the Football Issues Project Team. "That continues to be a source of frustration for a lot of people in Division II. It's hard to get a lot of people to come out and watch our product for the first time because they don't perceive it as being the largest -- so therefore it's not the best."

However, NCAA broadcast opportunities are not necessarily based on division-specific interests. Scheduling is a collaborative process between networks and the NCAA, but the networks are in business to drive ratings. Those ratings generate advertising revenue, which in turn pays the rights fee for the NCAA contract. In the case of the conflict between the Division I-AA football semifinal and the Division II final, it was noted that the total rating for NCAA championship football events for the day was 1.9 (I-AA plus II) -- up 26.7 percent from 2001. To many observers, that is a desirable outcome for ESPN, the NCAA and for college football in general.

"I think that's great for ESPN, and I could understand if you were looking at it NCAA-wide," Marcil said. "But I think you have to recognize that the three divisions make up the NCAA and that each division is looking to maximize its exposure. There's a point where you have to make sure the parts in some ways get special consideration over the whole."

Reinhard agrees.

"The Division II Football Championship is 9.9 times out of 10 the only opportunity for college football fans in America to see a Division II football game, especially if they don't have a Division II school in their area," he said. "If they're just a casual fan, that's probably the only opportunity they have all year long to witness Division II football. And it's a very special game.

"And so if Division II does not do everything it can to enhance that one-time exposure, then we're missing the boat."

The national office's broadcasting and media integration staff is sympathetic to the Division II concern, but it faces a Herculean task in working with the NCAA's broadcast partners to schedule championship events in ways that coincide with the championship schedule, that do not conflict with other NCAA events, that do not unduly infringe on student-athlete class time and that are played at a reasonable time of day.

As it happens, the Division II final has benefited for years from a desirable slot in mid-December. It almost magically falls on a Saturday when the Division I-A regular season is complete, yet it is the weekend before the postseason bowls begin. It is the last week before the NFL begins Saturday telecasts. It is in the time slot leading to the Heisman Trophy presentation, which is also on ESPN.

Division II interests are understandably loathe to surrender such a desirable position, but the broadcast experts are quick to point out that the slot might not always be so desirable. Most ominously, the NFL could decide at any time that it wants to move Saturday games up a week. If that were to happen, the ratings issue would be moot because the NFL would swamp the competition.

So, the possibility exists that Division II might be asked to consider a date or time change for future championship games. Marcil said he thought the division likely would be flexible on that count.

"I think Division II always would be ready to consider any request on time and date changes," he said. "Certainly part of that would involve protecting the more ideal dates and times, but I do think we have shown flexibility in the past."

One encouraging note is that opportunities are developing that may broaden the television landscape for Division II.

On May 12, the NCAA and College Sports Television (CSTV) announced an agreement for an "NCAA Championships Week" for the May 26-June 1 period. Although the first championship week will not include any Division II championships, the potential is there for the future.

"We understand the concerns that have been voiced in Division II, and we want the membership to know that every effort is always made to maximize championship broadcast opportunities," said Dennis Cryder, NCAA vice-president for branding, broadcasting and communications. "The bundled-rights agreement has provided much more exposure for NCAA events than was ever available before, and this new relationship with CSTV could serve as an effective complement that will benefit all three divisions."

In addition to the NCAA championships agreement, CSTV will meet with Division II commissioners in June to discuss the possibility of developing a Division II regular-season package for all sports.

"We heard about CSTV and let them know about Division II programming that was available," said Barry Blizzard, commissioner of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. CSTV representatives were sufficiently interested after a conference call that they suggested a meeting at the NACDA convention in Orlando.

Put it all together, and the television opportunities still would not equal the Rose Bowl. But for a division that is seeking nothing more than a platform to show what it stands for, the exposure would smell as sweet.

Variety of programs attract more attention to Division II

While a major portion of Division II promotion involves making the most of its nationally televised championship opportunities, the division has taken the initiative to call attention to itself in many other ways.

A list of initiatives that have been undertaken or conceived recently includes:

Conference SID meeting. A meeting of all Division II conference sports information directors is scheduled for June 27-28 in Indianapolis. The SIDs will discuss a broad range of issues with national office staff members, but among the most important discussions will be one involving the possibilities of using conference information offices as a vehicle for the NCAA to reach small-market media with information about Division II.

NACMA alliance. A booklet of promotional concepts suited to Division II has been developed by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators and distributed to the Division II membership. In addition, Division II will fund the attendance of five administrators (chosen at random from an application pool) to attend the NACMA convention in June.

Division II Membership Profile. A 24-page, full-color publication describing Division II was provided to the membership for the first time in summer 2002. An updated version will be produced this summer. The publication is designed to assist those with an interest in Division II (faculty, boosters, media, prospects, etc.) gain a greater understanding of what the division stands for.

Division-specific information in The NCAA News. For the last four years, The NCAA News has been organized in a way that presents information division by division. Also, for the last three years, the News has produced "division spotlights" that focus periodically on matters specifically of interest to each of the three divisions.

"NCAA On Campus." Division II stories have been featured prominently on "NCAA On Campus," a monthly program that appears on Fox SportsNet regional networks.

Other opportunities. Several other opportunities exist to bring more attention to Division II. Among the most important will be the May 2004 Division II spring sports festival. It will be the first time the NCAA has conducted championships for different sports in a common locale. In addition, preliminary discussion has taken place about whether the current division nomenclature (that is, Divisions I, II and III) should be reconsidered since it may reinforce the public impression that divisions other than I-A are less rather than different.

-- David Pickle