Even as the Division I softball season builds toward its traditional exciting finish at the Women's College World Series at the end of this month, the diamond is already buzzing about the new look on deck for the national championship tournament.

In 2005, the Division I Softball Championship will unveil a tournament format that incorporates super-regional play. The new structure closely resembles the format of the Division I baseball tournament.

The current championship setup sends eight teams each to eight regional locations, from which winners advance to the Women's College World Series.

Starting next season, though, four teams each will compete at 16 regional sites. The 16 winners who emerge from the regionals will advance to eight super regionals, where two teams at each location will square off in a two-day best-of-three series. The eight teams that survive super-regional play head to the WCWS.

Jacquie Joseph, head softball coach at Michigan State University and a member of the Division I Softball Committee, said the new format will be much simpler to administer than the current one.

"If you have bad weather, the current format can become a logistical nightmare," she said. "Not to mention that there aren't very many facilities that can accommodate eight teams, let alone cities, when you look at hotels and practice times and practice areas."

According to committee Chair Lisa Vad Thorner, assistant commissioner and senior woman administrator at the Western Athletic Conference, the new format also may open up the tournament field.

"In the eight-at-eight format, sometimes you get two or three really good teams at one site, but only one would go on to the Women's College World Series," she said. "From a fairness standpoint, I think it will be more spread out because you have to separate those conference opponents."

Joseph also thinks one of the most significant advantages to the new system will be increased opportunities for schools to host games.

"When you have to have eight teams, the facility requirements are much greater than when you are hosting only four. A lot of the country did not have access to a championship," she said. "You'll immediately see a re-opening of the championship to all quadrants of the country."

Joseph also believes the new format will be easier on the student-athletes competing because the games are more spread out. Instead of playing as many as four or five games in three or four days, in the new structure student-athletes will play only two games one week and a best-of-three series the next before heading into the WCWS.

"You're cramming so many games in a very short amount of time in eight-at-eight," Joseph said. "It's a different experience for the student-athlete and the wear and tear on their bodies is much greater. The new format is a much healthier scenario, in my opinion, because you have more rest."

TV time

The new format also factors in the opportunity for increased television exposure. The addition of the super-regional layer to the championship adds another weekend of competition and thus another round of games that may be televised.

That's good news to ESPN's Carol Stiff, who acknowledged that ratings for tournament games on the cable network have been high.

"On Labor Day Weekend, when we load up a lot of Major League Baseball games, consistently every year the championship game of the Women's College World Series outrates Major League Baseball," Stiff said.

This year, ESPN broadcast five softball games pitting the U.S. National Team against college teams including the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Arizona; and the University of Texas at Austin. Stiff said the USA vs. Arizona game was the highest-rated event on the network for the day it aired.

"In short, we're looking for every available opportunity to maximize this great sport," said Stiff, who thinks the addition of the super-regional round will give the network a chance to broadcast more games.

"The beauty of this is sort of like the men's and women's basketball tournaments that play off each other," she said. "The super regionals in softball will feed to the Women's College World Series, which will feed to the men's super regionals, which will feed to the College World Series," she said.

The change in the championship structure comes just in time to capitalize on the momentum built from having the WCWS championship game aired live during prime time on ESPN this year.

"We slid the championship down to late afternoon last year on a tape-delay basis and got great ratings," Stiff said. "It just made sense to move it to prime time so more viewers could see it."

High level of acceptance

Thorner said the reaction among coaches to the pending change has been positive.

"I think this is the format the coaches have wanted to go to for quite awhile," she said.

Joseph agrees that the change in format is greatly anticipated.

"When bracket expansion was approved, it was never our intention to go eight-at-eight," she said. "It was always our intention that when we got bracket expansion we would do regionals and super regionals. The committee at the time wasn't able to get the regional/super regional format, but they didn't want to turn down bracket expansion. Eight-at-eight was accepting a short-term necessary evil."

According to Sharon Cessna, director of championships at the NCAA, one of the few concerns expressed by coaches and host institutions has been that in the new format, the Women's College World Series championship game no longer falls on Memorial Day Weekend due to the extra week taken up by super regionals.

"I think some people are concerned that there won't be as many people to travel in for that weekend," Cessna said. "But if you think about it, you have games going on at eight sites, which to me is an advantage. Now there's eight places around the country that will be able to take advantage of the Memorial Day weekend and provide entertainment for fans, versus only one place."