The Division II Men’s Basketball Committee implemented the travel contingency plan yesterday in establishing the 64-team field for the 2009 Men’s Basketball Championship.

The plan, crafted by the Championships Committee and approved by the Division II Presidents Council, is designed to provide a more fiscally responsible model for the division’s regional tournaments and allows sport committees to divide an eight-team regional into two four-team subregionals in cases where all teams selected for regional play would need to fly to a single host site. In effect, the contingency protects the opportunity to host earned by the top seed while mitigating costs and reducing participating teams’ travel burdens.

The Men’s Basketball Committee applied the contingency plan to its West region. With the contingency policy in effect, No. 1 seed Brigham Young-Hawaii and No. 2 seed Western Washington will each host a four-team subregional. The decision is expected to save about $150,000 in air travel expenses for the championship.

“Due to the unique travel issues faced within the West region, we did employ the travel contingency plan, which will decrease the travel time for student-athletes and produce a cost savings,” said NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Committee Chair Rich Sanders. “We are confident that the eight best teams will play on Friday.”

The Division II Women’s Basketball Championship field of 64 teams also was revealed yesterday, but the Women’s Basketball Committee did not implement the contingency plan in any region, although early scenarios in the West region indicated that it was a possibility.

Alaska Anchorage was in a position to earn the top seed in the region and, along with it, the opportunity to host the regional tournament. In that case, the other seven seeds would have had to travel to Anchorage, which could have triggered the contingency policy. However, Seattle Pacific earned the No. 1 seed in the West, winning its last nine games, and will host the regional after the Falcons won a share of the Great Northwest regular-season championship.

The Alaska example was one of two hypothetical situations the Championships Committee examined last month as part of its deliberations on better business practices for championships administration. The Presidents Council affirmed the committee’s plan in a February 19 conference call after concerns had been raised that the contingency plan unfairly affected institutions in geographically remote areas.

Presidents Council Chair Steve Jordan of Metropolitan State, though, said university and college presidents involved in NCAA governance “have a unique fiduciary duty to manage divisional resources for all NCAA member institutions.” Citing double-digit percentage increases in air travel expenses for both the men’s and women’s basketball championships, Jordan said that the division could not sustain the growth and stressed the immediate need for action to help schools and the division use available resources in the most efficient manner.

Regional tournament formats in baseball also may be affected by the plan this spring.   The Championships Committee adopted the contingency plan on a trial basis for the remainder of the academic year. At their June meeting, committee members will revisit whether the plan needs to be carried forth, modified or eliminated.