A two-year moratorium on changes in selection criteria for team championships will end this year with revision of several guidelines by the Division III Championships Committee.

The most noteworthy changes include emphasizing end-of-season rankings when considering in-region results, and the addition of a sixth primary criterion. The committee also renamed one of the primary criteria to more accurately describe what it measures.

The committee adopted the changes during its January 18-20 meeting in San Diego, after reviewing recommendations submitted during recent months by sports committees, coaches associations and conferences.

In a significant revision of how one of the criteria -- in-region results versus regionally ranked teams -- will be applied, the committee agreed to eliminate the "once-ranked, always-ranked" concept, effective in 2005-06.

The concept has been criticized for giving teams credit for victories over in-region opponents that were ranked early in the season, but since have dropped out. As a result of the change, sports committees will look only at team records versus regional opponents included in the most recent ranking.

In a related action, the committee also directed sports committees to compile and publish a final regional ranking that includes competition during selection weekend. Committees currently compile the final ranking a week before selections.

Effective in 2006-07, sports committees also will have a sixth criterion to use as a result of the Championships Committee's adoption of "opponents' opponents' records." The criterion provides a deeper analysis of how a team compiled its win-loss record.

The only other change to primary criteria is a decision to rename the "strength-of-schedule index" to better describe what actually is measured. The criterion will be named to reflect its measurement of "quality of wins."

Three other primary criteria -- win-loss percentage against regional opponents, in-region head-to-head competition, and in-region results versus common regional opponents -- remain unchanged. There are no changes in the various secondary criteria that committees may employ in selection.

In-region scheduling

The committee also made recommendations to the Division III Management Council that could assist institutions in scheduling more contests against divisional and regional opponents.

The committee recommended that teams be permitted to count any contest played during an institutional break of at least seven days as in-region competition. If approved, the provision would permit teams that play opponents during a semester or spring break to count those contests as regional play, regardless of where the games are played or whether the teams are from other regions.

The action could assist geographically remote programs in meeting in-region competition requirements. Teams choosing to designate such contests as in-region play would be required to do so in advance through the NCAA Web site. The committee hopes to implement the provision in 2006-07.

In another recommendation that could help both current and provisional members schedule games, the committee supported a revision of current policy to permit contests against third- and fourth-year provisional members to be considered as contests against Division III opponents in applying selection criteria.

The committee made the recommendation after receiving a request from the Division III Membership Committee to review the issue. Provisional members would not be eligible for regional ranking or championship selection under the provision.

That revision would be implemented for 2005-06.

Future of Division III

The committee also devoted time during its meeting to reviewing recent developments in the "Future of Division III -- Phase II" initiative.

It reviewed results of a recent membership survey and also became the first committee in the Division III governance structure to review comments collected during a 2005 Convention forum discussion about the initiative.

Based on that review, the committee discussed various options for dealing with the impact of membership growth on Division III championships, including:

• Permitting members to opt out of championships to participate in alternative season-ending competition.

• A waiver of the two-year automatic-qualification waiting period for a designated period to accommodate conference realignment.

• Policy options for championships that "max out" with a 64-team bracket under the access ratio of one team for every 6.5 sponsoring a sport.

The committee is working on recommendations that will be presented to the Future of Division III -- Phase II Oversight Group, a panel that includes representatives of the Division III Presidents and Management Councils.

Other highlights

Division III Championships Committee
January 18-20/San Diego

• Recommended to the Division III Management Council that an additional $5,000 be allocated to budgets for Division III championships at 22 finals sites for the purpose of enhancing those events (see story on page 1). The committee made the recommendation after reviewing championships staff suggestions for enhancement of the various championships. The committee also agreed to seek matching support from the Association's corporate and broadcast alliance.

• Recommended to the Management Council sites for the 2006 and 2007 Division III Men's and Women's Basketball Championships. The committee recommended that Salem, Virginia, continue to serve as the site of the men's championship (co-hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the City of Salem) and that Springfield College serve as host for the women's championship in Springfield, Massachusetts.

• Recommended that Salem also serve as host site for the inaugural eight-team Division III Women's Volleyball Championship finals this year and again in 2006 (also co-hosted by the ODAC and City of Salem).

• Recommended that Greensboro, North Carolina, again serve as the site for the 2005 Division III Men's and Women's Soccer Championships, with Greensboro College and the City of Greensboro serving as hosts. For 2006 and 2007, the committee recommended that Orlando, Florida, be designated as the championships site. Because there are no Division III institutions in Florida, the committee recommended that the Walt Disney World Resort and Division II's Sunshine State Conference be designated as hosts.

• Recommended regional hosts for the 2005 Division III Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships: Atlantic region -- University of Rochester; Great Lakes region -- Wilmington College (Ohio); Mideast region -- Dickinson College; New England region -- Springfield College; South/Southeast region -- Hendrix College; and West region -- Willamette University.

• Approved a request from the Division III Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee to retain regional allocations based on historical performance through the 2005 cross country championships, while the committee finalizes a recommendation for sponsorship-based allocations for the 2006 championships.

• Received results of a survey that sought information about scheduling of fall and spring golf and tennis seasons at Division III institutions, and asked the Division III Men's and Women's Golf and Men's and Women's Tennis Committees to review the results and provide feedback.