The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has announced a pilot plan designed to reduce costs in nine of the league’s 20 championships without compromising the student-athlete experience.

The targeted sports are baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball.

The eight RMAC institutions that sponsor baseball will use a rotation schedule rather than holding the league’s postseason tournament at the site of the regular-season champion, which has been the previous practice. The championships will be at Nebraska-Kearney in 2010 and Mesa State in 2011. Colorado State-Pueblo, which hosted the tournament in 2009, also figures into the rotation.

The league’s championships committee will review the rotation in two years and decide either to continue (and possibly add locations) or to revert to awarding hosting responsibilities to the regular-season champion.

In men’s and women’s soccer, softball and women’s volleyball, the RMAC will solicit bids three weeks before the championship tournament to designate hosts (which will be the highest-seeded team at the time that submits an adequate bid).

The conference’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments also will change. Traditionally, the top eight teams qualify, with the divisional winners receiving the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds and the next six best teams (regardless of division) filling the rest of the field. In the past, seeds one through four have hosted seeds five through eight, with the four winning teams advancing to the semifinal round. 

This year, the first round will remain in-division. The No. 1 seed in each division will host the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed will host the No. 3 seed within the same division. The winners will advance to the semifinals, where the highest West Division seed will play the lowest East Division seed, and the highest East Division seed will play the lowest West Division seed.

The men’s and women’s tennis tournaments, which traditionally have been rotated among each of the six full-time members, also will test a new system. Due to prior commitments, Western New Mexico will remain host for 2010, but Metropolitan State will host subsequent events in Denver (Gates Tennis Center). 

The league’s championships committee will evaluate the pilot programs in each sport annually.

The 10 men’s and women’s championships already held on a rotational basis (cross country, golf, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field) will retain that format.

The pilot programs were implemented after RMAC presidents sought to save membership expenses while sustaining the quality of the student-athlete experience.

“I believe these pilot practices will be a positive experience for our membership and student-athletes,” said RMAC Commissioner Joel R. Smith. “All of our member institutions are experiencing effects from the economy. Our goal is to shape our championships so they are cost-effective, maintain the integrity of championships and preserve the student-athlete experience.”

In conjunction with the championship pilot programs, the conference also will be implementing a cost-sharing program that will involve each participating team in each sports championship.