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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Panel supports legislation for single-sport leagues
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Single-sport conferences with at least seven active members would be treated the same for championships purposes as multi-sport conferences under a proposal supported by the Division III Championships Committee.
The proposal would apply to existing single-sport conferences with seven or more active members as of February 1, 2008. The Division III Management Council will review the recommendation during its July 23-24 meeting and could recommend the proposal to the Division III Presidents Council for sponsorship at the 2008 Convention.
The championships committee, which met June 24-26 in Indianapolis, believes the proposal will help single-sport conferences continue to evolve. The proposal would permit a single-sport conference to receive automatic qualification to championships, provided its members do not also belong to a multi-sport conference that sponsors the sport.
It also would permit the formation of single-sport conferences in sports with low division-wide sponsorship, sports that recently have added a new championship and sports in those championships in which members’ multi-sport conferences historically do not sponsor the sport.
The championship committee already had agreed during its January meeting that it is philosophically comfortable with accommodating single-sport conferences in emerging sports as the need arises.
There currently are 12 single-sport conferences in which automatic qualification is applicable for Division III-sponsored championships. The championships committee noted that eight of those leagues currently receive automatic qualification and two more could receive AQ under the proposal, based on their anticipated February 2008 membership.
Current legislation permits only single-sport conferences that have maintained the same original seven members since February 1998 to receive automatic qualification.
In a related discussion, the championships committee considered the possibility of permitting geographically isolated institutions to band together in a single sport for championships purposes. For example, seven or more geographically isolated institutions that belong to multi-sport conferences might be permitted to receive automatic qualification to a championship in a sport that isn’t sponsored by those conferences.
The committee asked the Management Council to provide feedback on the topic.
Championship actions
The committee also acted on recommendations from Division III sports committees, including a request to delay the start of the men’s and women’s soccer championships by one day and proposed revisions in selection criteria for the men’s and women’s cross country championships.
The championships committee denied the recommendation to start the soccer tournaments on Thursday during the second week in November. The change would have resulted in second-round games being played on Sunday rather than Saturday.
Committee members cited the influence of the current policy requiring accommodation in championships of institutions on the basis of religious observance and potential impact on bracketing as reasons for the action.
The committee approved the revisions in the cross country championships selection criteria. The changes, which will be in effect for the 2008 championships, place more emphasis on performance and placement at regional meets.
The changes also redefine the “late-season performance” criterion used in selection of at-large teams to include the three regular-season meets before the regional in which institutions run at least three of the individuals who will compete for the team in the regional. The late-season competitions also must be at least 5 kilometers for women and 6 kilometers for men, and must be scored in accordance with the NCAA rules book.
The revised criteria also include consideration of common opponents using late-season performance comparisons, but no longer include consideration of gap times between a team’s runners in the regional.
The Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee recommended the changes after seeking feedback from coaches.
June 24-26/Indianapolis
The proposal would apply to existing single-sport conferences with seven or more active members as of February 1, 2008. The Division III Management Council will review the recommendation during its July 23-24 meeting and could recommend the proposal to the Division III Presidents Council for sponsorship at the 2008 Convention.
The championships committee, which met June 24-26 in Indianapolis, believes the proposal will help single-sport conferences continue to evolve. The proposal would permit a single-sport conference to receive automatic qualification to championships, provided its members do not also belong to a multi-sport conference that sponsors the sport.
It also would permit the formation of single-sport conferences in sports with low division-wide sponsorship, sports that recently have added a new championship and sports in those championships in which members’ multi-sport conferences historically do not sponsor the sport.
The championship committee already had agreed during its January meeting that it is philosophically comfortable with accommodating single-sport conferences in emerging sports as the need arises.
There currently are 12 single-sport conferences in which automatic qualification is applicable for Division III-sponsored championships. The championships committee noted that eight of those leagues currently receive automatic qualification and two more could receive AQ under the proposal, based on their anticipated February 2008 membership.
Current legislation permits only single-sport conferences that have maintained the same original seven members since February 1998 to receive automatic qualification.
In a related discussion, the championships committee considered the possibility of permitting geographically isolated institutions to band together in a single sport for championships purposes. For example, seven or more geographically isolated institutions that belong to multi-sport conferences might be permitted to receive automatic qualification to a championship in a sport that isn’t sponsored by those conferences.
The committee asked the Management Council to provide feedback on the topic.
Championship actions
The committee also acted on recommendations from Division III sports committees, including a request to delay the start of the men’s and women’s soccer championships by one day and proposed revisions in selection criteria for the men’s and women’s cross country championships.
The championships committee denied the recommendation to start the soccer tournaments on Thursday during the second week in November. The change would have resulted in second-round games being played on Sunday rather than Saturday.
Committee members cited the influence of the current policy requiring accommodation in championships of institutions on the basis of religious observance and potential impact on bracketing as reasons for the action.
The committee approved the revisions in the cross country championships selection criteria. The changes, which will be in effect for the 2008 championships, place more emphasis on performance and placement at regional meets.
The changes also redefine the “late-season performance” criterion used in selection of at-large teams to include the three regular-season meets before the regional in which institutions run at least three of the individuals who will compete for the team in the regional. The late-season competitions also must be at least 5 kilometers for women and 6 kilometers for men, and must be scored in accordance with the NCAA rules book.
The revised criteria also include consideration of common opponents using late-season performance comparisons, but no longer include consideration of gap times between a team’s runners in the regional.
The Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee recommended the changes after seeking feedback from coaches.
Other highlights
Division III Championships CommitteeJune 24-26/Indianapolis
- Recommended to the Division III Management Council that the city of Salem, Virginia, and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference serve as hosts of the 2008 Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship. It will be the first time the frequent Division III championship venue has served as the site of the lacrosse championship, although the city previously has hosted the Division II lacrosse championship.
- Recommended that the College of Wooster serve as host for the 2008 Division III Women’s and Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Oxford, Ohio.
- Recommended that Coe College, Cornell College and the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference serve as hosts for the 2009 Division III Wrestling Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The same site previously was selected to host the 2008 championships.
- Denied a request from the Northern Athletics Conference to waive the second year of the two-year waiting period for eligibility for automatic qualification.
- Denied a request from the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, a league whose membership includes five institutions that currently are Division III provisional or reclassifying members, to begin the two-year waiting period for automatic-qualification eligibility early.
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