The Division II Women's Basketball Committee has recommended requiring a minimum seating capacity of 1,000 for facilities hosting regional tournaments.

The committee reached its decision during its annual meeting June 1-3 in Indianapolis, at which it also recommended a two-game increase to 18 in the minimum number of in-region games played.

Both recommendations, which were sent to the Division II Championships Committee for review (see related story, page 14), were spurred by the growth of Division II women's basketball and a championship tournament structure that sends eight teams to each regional site.

The committee also discussed the membership's desire to improve the strength-of-schedule component in the championship selection criteria. The group is considering using an average winning percentage. The current method employs an index indicating strength of wins. The proposed average winning percentage would be calculated using two components currently used in determining a team's Rating Percentage Index (RPI) -- a team's winning percentage and a team's opponents' winning percentage. If this change is approved, it would not go into effect before the 2006 championship.

The committee also discussed evaluating teams' overall winning percentage and strength of schedule against Division II competition only as part of the selection criteria. Currently, results against NAIA teams and teams from other NCAA divisions also are considered.