Despite being played on ice, women's hockey is riding a serious hot streak. After becoming an NCAA championship in 2001, the sport is now shooting at doubling the size of its field in 2005.

The Division I Championships/ Competition Cabinet already has penciled in bracket expansion as part of its preliminary budget recommendations and is waiting on final approval from the Division I Management Council this spring when the NCAA finalizes its budget for the next two years.

Troy Arthur, NCAA associate director of championships, said the decision likely is a formality unless another budget initiative intervenes between now and then.

"At this point, I'm not aware of anything that's come up," he said. "The cabinet has identified bracket expansion for women's ice hockey as a priority, so obviously that group wants it to occur."

Currently, the women's championship tournament features four teams. The proposed expansion would double the field and add another week of competition.

"We would have one round of regional competition and the winners would advance to the championship," Arthur said. "Those regional games would be played on the campuses of participating schools."

The fact that the championship is heading into just its fourth year and already is looking to expand may seem like a short period for such a growth spurt, but the sponsorship numbers support the concept.

The women's ice hockey championship began as a National Collegiate event in 2001. Division III began its own national championship in 2002. Since then, the number of Division I programs has continued to inch higher at a rate of one to three schools annually. In addition, the number of conferences sponsoring the sport has doubled to four since the establishment of the championship.

Arthur said a byproduct of growth is higher-caliber competition.

"When you look at teams that are being left at home from championship play, it's becoming more and more apparent that the bracket should be expanded," he said. "You're getting about six to eight teams that can make a case for being in the championship."

Good timing

Jackie Barto, head coach at Ohio State University and a member of the Women's Ice Hockey Committee, said the timing is perfect for expansion.

"We've shown with our previous championships the strength and parity of the teams, in particular the most recent championship," she said. "If the field were to expand to eight, there would definitely be eight very qualified teams, if not more."

Harvard head coach and Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules Committee member Katey Stone said the movement from establishing the championship to possible expansion seems like a fast but welcome development.

"I think as coaches and for the athletes, we wanted it to happen very quickly. But, with everything there's an evolution," Stone said. "I would say people have done a good job if we can get our field expanded within five years of the first championship. I think that's a job well done."

For Carolyn Campbell-McGovern, senior associate director at the Ivy Group and chair of the National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Committee, the opportunity to grow the championship has been fast -- yet slow -- in coming.

"It seems fast but in some ways it's not fast enough to keep up with the growth of the sport," she said. "We've really struggled for the last few years because we've only been allowed to have four teams in the championship. Really, at the next level of teams, there's not that much difference. It seems such a shame to not provide those championship experiences to those teams that are so close to the top."

Joe Bertagna, executive director of the American Hockey Coaches Association and the commissioner of the Hockey East Association, said the parity of teams and the increasing number of programs would support a larger championship field.

"We are seeing continued growth in the number of schools sponsoring women's ice hockey," he said. "I also think if you look at the competition on the ice, it's pretty tough to draw that line between the fourth and the fifth team or the fourth and the sixth team."

Championship benchmark

Bertagna, who was Harvard's first coach, said that increasing the tournament field is a milestone for the rapidly growing sport.

"Last year I watched the NCAA women's national championship on television," he said. "Having coached 25 years ago where women were showing up in tryouts with figure skates, never having played the game, to sitting in my living room watching the game in Duluth, and the game itself, was an incredible example of how far the game has come."

A steady growth in the number of schools and conferences sponsoring the sport, the higher level of play and high fan interest have helped women's ice hockey arrive at this critical juncture. There is consensus that a bracket expansion is not only a milestone, but a significant move that could influence the game in important ways.

Shannon Miller, head coach of three-time champion University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Women's Ice Hockey Committee, said expanding the championship opens up more opportunities for student-athletes.

"It's significant because there's going to be another four teams that get an opportunity to extend the length of their season, to live a dream and have an opportunity to lay it all on the line for something big," she said.

Harvard's Stone agrees that a bracket expansion would add more opportunity.

"When there's more opportunity, there's more competitiveness. I think that's a step in the right direction," she said.

Campbell-McGovern thinks doubling the bracket not only ensures that the best teams have a chance to play for a national championship, but it also benefits fans.

"Having more teams involved adds significantly to the excitement, both for the fact that fans will be able to watch teams play in their own arenas in NCAA championship competition -- plus that will increase their interest in the Frozen Four," she said.

Bertagna said enlarging the bracket also could have a long-term effect.

"Not only is this going to be immediately helpful to those teams that get into the tournament by the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth spots next year, it may lead to more growth or to other programs on the sidelines that can now see an avenue to get into the national tournament," he said.

Bertagna in fact sees increasing the championships field as a first step toward automatic qualification. He said it may spur growth of more programs that want access to the NCAA tournament through AQ. "That means it'll make getting into leagues more attractive and could lead to the growth of other leagues. So, I think there's a domino effect," he said.

Ohio State's Barto also believes bracket expansion could mean good things for leagues.

"Hopefully, there will be even more emphasis on league play," she said. "If we do expand, there might be potential for automatic qualifying and that puts even more of a focus within your league play, which could be a healthy thing."