The discussion, parts of which involved chairs of several Division III team sports committees as well as NCAA staff members responsible for staging and supporting championship-related events, resulted in a commit-
ment to explore ways to enhance each of the 27 Division III championships.

The committee agreed to develop a list of possible enhancements, including cost estimates, for review by the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and by Division III sports committees.

Examples of enhancements include hosting such events as awards ceremonies with keynote speakers and creating amenities such as hospitality rooms and student-athlete lounges, among other things.

"There certainly are things that lend themselves to what most people would perceive as a quality championship event," said Steve Wallo, director of athletics at Lewis & Clark College and chair of the Championships Committee. "Whether it's signage, some extra perks, or just little things beyond the norm, we want to consider items that most people would associate with a championship experience.

"As we move beyond access issues, we've started looking at the championships themselves -- are we doing them the best we can do them, are we giving student-athletes the best kind of experience, what kinds of things can we do to enhance them?"

The committee ultimately expects to recommend specific enhancements to Division III governance groups for formal approval. Committee members hope to implement enhancements during the next two years at championship finals, and eventually to achieve improvements during preliminary rounds as well.

In an action related to enhancing the student-athlete experience, the committee also recommended creating medallions that can be purchased for student-athletes by institutions participating in Division III championships. The medallions, which would commemorate participation in a specific sport's championship, would be offered beginning in 2004-05 if approved by the Division III Management and Presidents Councils.

Committee members also discussed ways to improve promotion of championship events and generate community and fan support, all in keeping with the Division III philosophy of emphasizing the student-athlete experience over entertainment.

The committee discussed ideas with representatives of the NCAA branding and communications and corporate and broadcast alliances staffs, and agreed to work with Division III sports committees to collect information for use by those staffs in approaching corporate sponsors and broadcasters about involvement with championships.

"As we talk to (sports committee) chairs, we need to work through our structure and through championship liaisons to identify areas in a particular championship where things can be done within reason, within the financial framework we have, and also to identify any specific roadblocks or hurdles," Wallo said.

Championship formats

The Championships Committee also approved recommendations relating to formats of championships, including plans for expansion of brackets in 2006 in the team sports of baseball, men's and women's basketball, and softball.

The committee:

• Approved a recommendation from the Division III Baseball Committee to assign seven teams to each of five regional sites and six teams to each of three sites in the baseball championship (accommodating a bracket expansion from 42 to 53 teams).

• Approved recommendations from the Division III Men's and Women's Basketball Committees to retain the current championship formats, and increase the number of first-round games (accommodating bracket expansion in the men's championship from 48 to 58 teams and in the women's championship from 50 to 62 teams).

The men's tournament will feature 26 single midweek games in the first round and the women's tournament will feature 30 single first-round games. Each championship then will feature 16 single second-round games on the first weekend, followed by four-team sectionals on the second weekend of the championships and the semifinals and final on the third weekend.

• Approved a recommendation from the Division III Softball Committee to assign seven teams to each of five regional sites and eight teams to each of three sites in the softball championship (expanding from 44 to 59 teams).

The committee approved formats for eight other championships -- all involving expansion of brackets -- at its June meeting (see the July 5 issue of The NCAA News).

* Other highlights

Division III Championships Committee

September 20-22/Indianapolis

• Approved a recommendation from the Division III Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee to use a ratio based on sport sponsorship to determine regional team and individual allocations for the Division III Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, and to eliminate the use of historical data (performance of participants in past championships) from the formula. The Championships Committee recommended to the Division III Management Council that the sponsorship-based allocation formula be used beginning with the 2005 cross country season.

• Approved the following sites to host championships for two consecutive years, beginning in 2006: Baseball -- Appleton, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and Lawrence University, hosts), and women's golf -- Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida (Central Florida Sports Commission and Oglethorpe University, hosts).

• Approved Santa Cruz, California, as the site of the 2005 Division III Men's Tennis Championships (University of California, Santa Cruz, host) and Fredricksburg, Virginia, as the site of the 2006 championships (Mary Washington College, host).

• Approved Minneapolis as the site of the 2006 Division III Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships (Carleton College, host), and Houston as the site of the 2007 championships (University of Houston, Harris County and the Houston Sports Authority, hosts).

• Approved Lincoln, Nebraska, as the site of the Division III Men's Golf Championships in 2006, with Nebraska Wesleyan University as host.

• Recommended to the Management Council a standardization of fines across sports for institutions' failure to comply with various team-sport championships' requirements for reporting scores. Fines currently are assessed and amounts determined by each sports committee, as authorized by NCAA Bylaw 31.1.9.1. The committee also agreed to establish a procedure for providing warning to directors of athletics when fines are about to be imposed.

• Approved a recommendation by the Division III Softball Committee to change the softball championship date formula to play the finals during the weekend before the Memorial Day weekend.

• Approved a recommendation by the Division III Men's Lacrosse Committee to change the lacrosse championship date formula to play second-round and semifinal games on Saturdays instead of Sundays, to avoid conflict with commencement exercises and religious services.

• Approved plans from the Division III Men's and Women's Tennis Committee to survey the membership regarding a possible change from the current nine-point scoring system in women's matches to a seven-point system.

• Agreed to study the possibility of assisting teams that fly to a championship site with expenses during the event for local transportation.

• Approved a Baseball Rules Committee proposal to disqualify both the offending individual and the head coach from a contest for a violation of the rule banning tobacco use.