National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

October 13, 1997

Committee sharing information about II championships

After an unprecedented meeting with sports committee chairs, the Division II Championships Committee plans next to provide information to and solicit input from the division membership regarding championships policies and procedures.

The committee met September 22 in Kansas City, Missouri, with chairs of sports committees that govern Division II championships. That meeting -- the first between sports committee chairs and members of the committee charged with overseeing administration of Division II championships -- served both as an orientation session and an opportunity for the sports committee chairs to offer their views on the possible modification of current championships policies.

Meeting participants also reviewed a draft of a document intended to provide an overview of the Division II championships program and its policies and procedures.

That document will be sent later this fall to Division II institutions, in anticipation of a panel discussion of championships policies and procedures during the 1998 Convention in Atlanta. The overview document will offer definitions and applications of championships policies and include detailed information on championship brackets and field sizes, determination of championship participants, and determination of championship sites.

The panel discussion at the Convention is expected to provide the Division II membership an opportunity to comment generally on championships policies and procedures and specifically address topics that likely will be addressed in future Division II Championships Committee meetings.

Two of those topics are team-selection criteria and site-selection criteria. Both topics received considerable attention at the September 22 meeting.

Team-selection criteria

All Division II championships utilize three basic selection criteria: (1) Won-lost record; (2) strength of schedule and (3) eligibility and availability of student-athletes for postseason competition.

The Division II Championships Committee used the September 22 meeting to clarify those criteria and address varying additional criteria that sports committees have developed primarily to assist in the evaluation of strength of schedule.

After considerable discussion, the group decided it is appropriate to attempt to create basic additional criteria for use by all committees, but also agreed that each committee should have the autonomy to develop sport-specific criteria.

The group also discussed interregional vs. intraregional competition and agreed that primary emphasis should be placed on regional won-lost records, although results against competition outside a region can be used to compare common opponents.

The Division II Championships Committee has formed a subcommittee to discuss these and other selection-criteria issues, including the question of whether men's and women's sports (for example, men's and women's basketball) should be required to use the same selection criteria.

Site-selection criteria

The group also discussed current championship site-selection criteria, focusing on the emphasis on geographical proximity of participants to championship sites.

The Division II Championships Committee has formed a subcommittee to review the site-selection policy, at least to clarify its intent. In addition, the subcommittee will consider modifying the policy to provide for exceptions or waivers or eliminating the policy to permit all No. 1-seeded teams in championships to serve as hosts.

Any decisions regarding changes for 1998-99 will be made during the Division II Championships Committee's January 1998 meeting. Meanwhile, the current criteria remain effective for 1997-98 championships.

Benefits of meeting

The September 22 meeting provided participants opportunties beyond sharing views about team- and site-selection criteria.

Participants agreed that the meeting helped put the Division II Championships Committee and the sports committees on the same track in sharing responsibility for the administration of championships.

For example, the group discussed sports committee responsibilities, including:

  • Properly conducting committee telephone conferences for championship team selection and other purposes.

  • Formation of regional advisory committees (including the importance of soliciting recommendations from Division II conference commissioners).

  • Creation of committee operations manuals (such manuals already have been created by the Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Committees).

    The discussions are expected to result in better understanding of those responsibilities and of championships administration policies and procedures among the sports committees, and ultimately will result in better description of policies and procedures in championships handbooks and other publications.

    Meeting participants also believe that the face-to-face session between the Division II Championships Committee and the sports committee chairs opened new lines of communication between the committees.

    The Division II Championships Committee hopes to begin extending that improved understanding and communication to the entire membership with the distribution of its overview document.

    The document will be sent to chief executive officers, faculty athletics representatives, directors of athletics and senior woman administrators at Division II institutions, as well as to conference commissioners and the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.