The consternation over the Directors’ Cup (The NCAA News, March 13, 2006) is well founded, particularly since the current scoring method is flawed. I believe, though, that the solution to the Cup’s scoring challenge is relatively simple.

The Cup scoring should count all sports for which the NCAA conducts a national championship in that division, and it should include all sports sponsored by an institution. Regional champions should receive bonus points, as would regional runner-ups. All schools that compete in NCAA postseason play would receive points under the following system:

n The system includes four columns — the number of sports sponsored, the number of points possible, the number of points earned and the rating (achieved by dividing the third column by the second) — for each school.

n Points possible are determined by adding the number of sports that a school sponsors to the number of schools that sponsor those sports. For example, if Institution A sponsors 15 sports, that would be added to the total number of division schools that sponsor those 15 sports.

n Points earned are determined by a school’s finish in the NCAA championship for each sport. A series of bonuses also are awarded: A 20 percent bonus to the national champion, 10 percent to the runner-up, 10 percent to every regional champion and 5 percent to every regional runner-up.

For example, Institution A wins the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, which has 334 teams. Institution A receives 334 points, plus a 20 percent bonus for the national title (66.8), and a 10 percent bonus for being regional champion (33.4), for a total of 434.2 points. Each of the 65 tournament teams is awarded points based upon its tournament finish. The runner-up receives 333 points, plus a 20 percent bonus (10 percent for the regional title and 10 percent for being national runner-up) for 399.6 points. The two third-place teams receive 331.5 points, plus a 10 percent regional-champion bonus (33.15) for 364.65 points.

Regional bonus points will not be awarded in sports for which regional championships are not conducted. Any school that scores in a regional or national competition shall receive points. For example, if 83 schools score at a regional or national championship, all will receive place points. Teams that do not advance to the national championship from regional play will still receive an appropriate number of points according to their national finish.

Football, because of its popularity, should be provided special consideration. In Division I-A, the total possible points should be 119, but the final point totals of all the teams that receive votes in the two national polls should be tripled. A 25-point bonus would be awarded for a bowl win and 12 points awarded for a bowl loss. The points earned by the 16 teams chosen for the Division I-AA playoffs should be doubled.

This system also solves the current problem of sports with low sponsorship numbers. A team that wins the national championship in a sport with only 50 sponsored teams would receive a maximum (if there is regional play) of 65 points (50 plus the 30 percent bonus). The champion’s rating, just considering that sport, would be 1.3 (65 divided by 50), while the previously mentioned national basketball champion’s rating for just basketball would also be 1.3 (434.20 divided by 334), but the higher basketball point total rewards those schools that do best in high-sponsored sports (that is, a 10-0 record is better than a 2-0 record).

Awards should be provided for top-10 teams in each sport season (fall, winter and spring) and for men’s and women’s sports in each season and overall (the co-ed sport problem is easily solved). That will make the awards and rankings even more viable and likely permit more schools to showcase their programs.

The final rankings would be presented as follows:

In summary, the system works because all NCAA championship sports that an institution sponsors are counted (since all those sports constitute an institution’s athletics program), and any team that scores/places at a regional or national championship will receive points according to their overall national finish, not just the top 65 places. Also, schools that win or place in sports with high sponsorship will have an advantage over schools that win or have a corresponding place in sports with a small sponsorship, based upon this rating method.

The system is fair in that all sports are rated, all places are counted and high-sponsorship sports are rewarded.               

Dave Waples

Athletics Director

Kennesaw State University