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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Cabinet asks to fund football championship growth
Members propose opening-round games to address tournament-access issues
Members propose opening-round games to address tournament-access issues
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By Greg Johnson
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet reviewed budget requests totaling more than $2.5 million for the 2008-10 budget cycle at its September 19-20 meeting in Indianapolis.
Members approved preliminary recommendations totaling about $859,000 that will be further discussed in the biennial budget process.
Initiatives receiving the strongest support from the cabinet include adding two opening-round games to the Football Championhip Subdivision tournament ($250,000) — expanding the women’s rowing bracket ($99,000), avoiding first- and second-round conference matchups in the women’s soccer championship ($148,000) and a change in the format in the men’s golf championships ($27,200).
Cabinet members made their recommendations based on maximum allocations for Division I between $1.4 and $1.5 million for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years. The exact amount will not be known until other Division I requests are considered.
The Division I Budget Committee, which consists of members of the Division I Board of Directors and Division I Management Council, will meet in March to finalize recommendations for the biennial budget, which then will be forwarded to the Board and the Executive Committee.
The two opening-round games was a top priority for cabinet members because of access issues.
An opening round of competition would allow the FCS selection committee to include all conferences that meet the minimum automatic-qualification criteria. The additional costs for expansion are associated with two additional flights for participating teams, per diem for four teams and expenses for game officials.
“The subdivision is growing,” said cabinet Chair and Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich. “As new conferences become eligible for automatic qualification, the principle of access to championships needs to be addressed for the Football Championship Subdivision. People feel strongly about all of our championships balancing automatic qualifiers and at-large bids.”
The issue arose when the cabinet asked the Division I Football Committee to propose solutions to the current situation in which nine eligible conferences have applied for automatic qualification. Since the sport has less than 60 percent sponsorship cabinet policy dictates that at least 50 percent of the bracket shall be reserved for at-large selections and no more than 50 percent of the bracket shall be reserved for conference AQs.
If approved, another issue that must be addressed later is the length of the sport’s playing and practice season, which would be affected if an additional round is added to the championship. Teams either will have to forgo a bye week in the regular season, or the season must begin a week earlier or end a week later. The cabinet charged the FCS committee with addressing the logistical issues and developing policies to determine which teams participate in the opening round.
More budget items
In other budget-related actions, the cabinet approved expansion of the women’s rowing bracket. The expansion originally was approved in the 2005 biennial budget process, but the initiative didn’t receive funding. Based on participation numbers, the bracket would have 16 teams competing at the finals site.
Cabinet members also recommended funding to allow the Division I Women’s Soccer Committee to avoid conference matchups in the first and second rounds of the tournament, which ensures that teams from the same conference will not meet until the quarterfinal round.
If the change receives funding, the additional flights would add costs, but student-athletes will not miss more class time than in previous years.
In men’s golf, the cabinet was intrigued by the proposed adjustment to the championships.
The format calls for an individual champion to be crowned after 54 holes of medal play, followed by the top eight teams advancing to a medal/match play format to determine the team champion.
The rationale is that creating head-to-head competition for the team title will enhance the championships for student-athletes and draw interest from the public. The Division I Men’s Golf Committee also believes the format could create an opportunity for the championships to be televised.
Cabinet members also approved the concept of expanding the brackets in men’s water polo ($72,900) and men’s volleyball ($93,400) from four-team to eight-team National Collegiate events, but they would like to fund those changes with Association-wide dollars.
Because only 31 of the 61 institutions sponsoring men’s water polo and 22 of the 82 institutions sponsoring men’s volleyball are from Division I, cabinet members believe that the possibility of funds coming from non-Division I sources should be explored.
Track and field realignment
The cabinet’s bracket/format subcommittee reviewed five outdoor track and field regional-alignment proposals. The cabinet could not identify a single proposal, however, that did not appear to disadvantage the West and Midwest regions.
After approving the proposed realignment plan for the East and Mideast, the cabinet directed the Division I Track and Field Subcommittee to revisit regional realignment in the West and Midwest. Cabinet members want the subcommittee to provide a chart at its February 5-6 meeting showing the locations of all institutions sponsoring track and field so it can see where natural alignments may occur. The cabinet plans to decide on how the regions in track and field will be realigned in February.
The issue has been brewing since the current alignment went into effect in 2003. There is an imbalance in the number of student-athletes competing in the East and Mideast regions compared to the Midwest and West.
The track and field subcommittee cited an example from 2007 in the 200-meter dash, in which competitors in the Midwest, Mideast and East regions ran in preliminary rounds of four or more heats to reach the finals. In the West, though, only eight runners entered the race, and there was no preliminary-round competition.
“We’re getting closer to finding the right solution” Femovich said. “This has been a thorough process, and when the decision is made, we will be fully aware of all the issues and variables involved.”
September 19-20/Indianapolis
Members approved preliminary recommendations totaling about $859,000 that will be further discussed in the biennial budget process.
Initiatives receiving the strongest support from the cabinet include adding two opening-round games to the Football Championhip Subdivision tournament ($250,000) — expanding the women’s rowing bracket ($99,000), avoiding first- and second-round conference matchups in the women’s soccer championship ($148,000) and a change in the format in the men’s golf championships ($27,200).
Cabinet members made their recommendations based on maximum allocations for Division I between $1.4 and $1.5 million for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years. The exact amount will not be known until other Division I requests are considered.
The Division I Budget Committee, which consists of members of the Division I Board of Directors and Division I Management Council, will meet in March to finalize recommendations for the biennial budget, which then will be forwarded to the Board and the Executive Committee.
The two opening-round games was a top priority for cabinet members because of access issues.
An opening round of competition would allow the FCS selection committee to include all conferences that meet the minimum automatic-qualification criteria. The additional costs for expansion are associated with two additional flights for participating teams, per diem for four teams and expenses for game officials.
“The subdivision is growing,” said cabinet Chair and Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich. “As new conferences become eligible for automatic qualification, the principle of access to championships needs to be addressed for the Football Championship Subdivision. People feel strongly about all of our championships balancing automatic qualifiers and at-large bids.”
The issue arose when the cabinet asked the Division I Football Committee to propose solutions to the current situation in which nine eligible conferences have applied for automatic qualification. Since the sport has less than 60 percent sponsorship cabinet policy dictates that at least 50 percent of the bracket shall be reserved for at-large selections and no more than 50 percent of the bracket shall be reserved for conference AQs.
If approved, another issue that must be addressed later is the length of the sport’s playing and practice season, which would be affected if an additional round is added to the championship. Teams either will have to forgo a bye week in the regular season, or the season must begin a week earlier or end a week later. The cabinet charged the FCS committee with addressing the logistical issues and developing policies to determine which teams participate in the opening round.
More budget items
In other budget-related actions, the cabinet approved expansion of the women’s rowing bracket. The expansion originally was approved in the 2005 biennial budget process, but the initiative didn’t receive funding. Based on participation numbers, the bracket would have 16 teams competing at the finals site.
Cabinet members also recommended funding to allow the Division I Women’s Soccer Committee to avoid conference matchups in the first and second rounds of the tournament, which ensures that teams from the same conference will not meet until the quarterfinal round.
If the change receives funding, the additional flights would add costs, but student-athletes will not miss more class time than in previous years.
In men’s golf, the cabinet was intrigued by the proposed adjustment to the championships.
The format calls for an individual champion to be crowned after 54 holes of medal play, followed by the top eight teams advancing to a medal/match play format to determine the team champion.
The rationale is that creating head-to-head competition for the team title will enhance the championships for student-athletes and draw interest from the public. The Division I Men’s Golf Committee also believes the format could create an opportunity for the championships to be televised.
Cabinet members also approved the concept of expanding the brackets in men’s water polo ($72,900) and men’s volleyball ($93,400) from four-team to eight-team National Collegiate events, but they would like to fund those changes with Association-wide dollars.
Because only 31 of the 61 institutions sponsoring men’s water polo and 22 of the 82 institutions sponsoring men’s volleyball are from Division I, cabinet members believe that the possibility of funds coming from non-Division I sources should be explored.
Track and field realignment
The cabinet’s bracket/format subcommittee reviewed five outdoor track and field regional-alignment proposals. The cabinet could not identify a single proposal, however, that did not appear to disadvantage the West and Midwest regions.
After approving the proposed realignment plan for the East and Mideast, the cabinet directed the Division I Track and Field Subcommittee to revisit regional realignment in the West and Midwest. Cabinet members want the subcommittee to provide a chart at its February 5-6 meeting showing the locations of all institutions sponsoring track and field so it can see where natural alignments may occur. The cabinet plans to decide on how the regions in track and field will be realigned in February.
The issue has been brewing since the current alignment went into effect in 2003. There is an imbalance in the number of student-athletes competing in the East and Mideast regions compared to the Midwest and West.
The track and field subcommittee cited an example from 2007 in the 200-meter dash, in which competitors in the Midwest, Mideast and East regions ran in preliminary rounds of four or more heats to reach the finals. In the West, though, only eight runners entered the race, and there was no preliminary-round competition.
“We’re getting closer to finding the right solution” Femovich said. “This has been a thorough process, and when the decision is made, we will be fully aware of all the issues and variables involved.”
Other highlights
Division I Championships/Competition CabinetSeptember 19-20/Indianapolis
- Sponsored emergency noncontroversial legislation to prohibit men’s basketball coaches from attending non-institutional, non-organized activities, such as pick-up games and open gyms, during the summer evaluation period.
- Sponsored emergency noncontroversial legislation to expand current legislation prohibiting an agent or those employed by an agent from being on a staff or associated in any capacity with the certified event, league or any team participating in the event or league. Event operators must also provide proof of insurance coverage for participants who may become injured in the event or league.
- Reviewed a recommendation from the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee to study a possible reduction of grants-in-aid in the sport from 15 to 13. The cabinet referred the recommendation to the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet’s subcommittee on financial aid, the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Committee on Women’s Athletics. The issue is whether the reduction of scholarships would bring more competitive equity to women’s basketball. Proponents of the reduction say the two grants-in-aid could be allocated to other women’s sports to ensure no participation opportunities are lost overall for female student-athletes, particularly for ethnic-minority student-athletes.
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