National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Jul 21, 2010 4:11:36 PM

Beginning with the 2011-12 championship season, a Rating Percentage Index database will be established for all Division II championship sports for ranking and selection procedures.

The Division II Management Council, which met Monday and Tuesday in Indianapolis, acted on the recommendation of the Division II Championships Committee.

No committees will be obligated to use the RPI, although efforts will be made to develop appropriate RPIs for each sport.

In the past, representatives of sports with few games, such as football, have not embraced RPIs. However, the Championships Committee believes that the RPI would have value for all sports committees, especially when permission is given to customize the figure, such as by creating bonuses for road victories.

"The RPI basically incorporates many of the things that we're already doing," said Butch Raymond, Management Council vice chair and one of the Council's representatives on the Championships Committee. "But it will also take into consideration some key games that are played against very good teams. We want to reward teams for playing those games. We want to give them credit if they're able to win those games. So I think it will give us a better picture."

Raymond, commissioner of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, said the RPI also will help coaches and administrators have a better idea of what is required to reach regional competition. However, he also stressed that the RPI will be only a tool for committees that choose to use it.

The examination of how to apply the RPI will begin this summer and will be a central point of discussion at a joint meeting of sports committee chairs and the Championships Committee in September. It would be piloted thereafter, with a target date for implementation in September 2011.

Regionalization

The Management Council also approved a Championships Committee recommendation to maintain the current regionalization model. The extension will leave the current model in effect through the 2013-14 academic year. However, the Championships Committee, in consultation with the Management Council and Presidents Council, may amend the regionalization model due to changes in the membership (for example, the addition of new schools or conferences, realignment of current conferences).

With the model extended, institutions and conferences will be able to schedule according to the guiding principles of regionalization.

The plan, which was approved in June 2007, has created consistent regions from sport to sport and eliminated frequent changes in regional maps among various sports.

There are eight Division II regions for most sports. All games within the region are considered in-region, as are in-state games. Games against opponents from contiguous states also count as regional matchups. Teams are rewarded in the selection process for playing and winning in-region games during the regular season.

Other business

In other business pertaining to championships, the Division II Management Council:

• Agreed to recommend sponsorship of legislation for the 2011 Convention to ease the compliance burden for teams competing in certain National Collegiate Championships. Under the proposal, Division II student-athletes would have to be certified only under Division II eligibility requirements, regardless of the divisional makeup of the teams eligible for the championship.
• Agreed to recommend sponsorship of legislation as an administrative regulation that would permit NCAA championships activities and promotions in all sports to be sponsored by a professional sports organization.
• Agreed to recommend sponsorship of legislation for 2011 Convention that would count two days of competition in multi-day track meets as a single date of competition under certain conditions.
• Agreed to recommend sponsorship of legislation for 2011 that would specify that the earliest annual start date for preseason practice in wrestling will be October 10. The earliest competition date would be November 1. Similar proposals have been made in Divisions I and III on behalf of the wrestling community.
• Agreed to recommend sponsorship of legislation for 2011 that would provide an annual exemption for an institution or student-athlete to compete in the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals.