A comprehensive, two-year review of bracket/format policies and procedures came one step closer to completion as the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet finalized a set of recommendations for the Division I Management Council to consider in April.

The review, which the cabinet began in summer 2001, then intensified after September 11, has produced a series of recommendations after consideration of several models that define bracketing principles for team sports other than men's and women's basketball.

The cabinet, which met February 4-6 in Indianapolis, approved the work of its bracket/format subcommittee, which had spent several months obtaining feedback from sports committees, conferences and coaches associations regarding the proposed criteria.

The working principles the cabinet approved provide sports committees the following parameters when placing teams in the bracket:

Seed a maximum of 25 percent of the bracket, except for those brackets where 25 percent does not make sense (for example, allowing a 48-team bracket to seed the top 16 rather than the top 12).

First-round conference match-ups shall be avoided (first round is defined as first contest).

Higher-seeded teams should be given consideration in hosting (taking into account other factors such as missed class time, quality and availability of the facility and other necessary accommodations, attendance history, financial considerations, geography, quality of the student-athlete experience, championship atmosphere, and accessibility of fans, etc.), unless a site has multiple teams participating. In this case, a site must be selected that results in the least amount of air travel.

After seeding the approved number of teams, teams should be placed in brackets per Bylaw 31.1.3.2.6 (that is, geographically) with consideration given to missed class time, the quality of the student-athlete experience, championship atmosphere and accessibility of fans.

The cabinet also approved a fifth working principle, which will allow the cabinet to modify the guidelines on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the unique nature of each sport. This working principle, which the cabinet added after considering various requests from sports committees to modify the guidelines, would be contingent on the appropriate amendment to Bylaw 31.1.3.2.6, which provides the cabinet with this authority.

In its review, the cabinet agreed that championships in baseball, men's ice hockey and men's and women's tennis continue their use of a "banding" concept that arranges the field in four-team bands according to seeds. The cabinet also voted to allow women's gymnastics to continue seeding 50 percent of its field. Another modification was granted to men's and women's lacrosse, which would be held to the seeding principles this year but would be allowed to seed 50 percent of their fields in 2004, provided no additional flights would be required

In softball, the committee will be allowed to separate first- and second-round conference opponents for regional competition, but will be held to the working principles in other areas. And in women's volleyball, the committee will be allowed to separate first- and second-round conference opponents based on geographical proximity in a manner that does not create additional flights. However, once those 16 "clusters" of four teams each have been paired, the site will be the one that requires the least amount of air travel.

The cabinet emphasized that it will continue to consider requests for modifications on a sport-by-sport basis in future years.

"This is the culmination of more than two years of review, feedback and correspondence from a number of different entities
within the Division I governance structure and from a number of organizations outside the structure," said cabinet Chair Jean Lenti Ponsetto, the athletics director at DePaul University. "This was not a knee-jerk exercise by any means, but one that incorporated a lot of hard work and consideration from thoughtful people.

"What we've done is establish principles that can be applied on a consistent basis for all sports and that can assist the cabinet in making any future decisions."

>Other issues

In addition to its review of bracket/format policies, the cabinet also received an update on the football out-of-season conditioning model (Proposal No. 02-84). The proposal, developed last spring to address health and safety concerns in football, has generated a good deal of discussion during the comment period, including some suggested revisions, particularly regarding the five-day acclimatization period and whether it should be considered in the countable preseason totals.

Some of the suggested revisions came from the American Football Coaches Association and were discussed in forums at the January NCAA Convention. The Division I Football Issues Committee has asked to review the proposals at an in-person meeting, but because of scheduling conflicts, the committee was unable to convene before the cabinet meeting. Therefore, the Football Issues Committee has asked the cabinet to conduct a conference call sometime after the committee's February 17 meeting to react to the committee's final recommendations. The recommendations that receive cabinet support will go to the Management Council for consideration in April.

The cabinet also discussed safety issues in pole vault. Because various safety measures and equipment recently were approved and will become effective soon, the cabinet has been asked to consider proposing legislation that would allow for greater coaching access in the event. For example, some of the proposals would allow for an additional volunteer coach to oversee the pole vault, or provide for a "coach's box" on the field that would allow a coach direct oversight of the event during competition.

The cabinet agreed to forward the recommendations to the Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee, as well as the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, for further review. <>

Other highlights

Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet/February 4-6/Indianapolis

Agreed to ask the Division I Management Council to appoint an ad hoc group to discuss issues related to the education and enforcement of daily and weekly hour limitations on countable athletically related activities (20-hour rule).

Agreed to propose legislation to amend NCAA Bylaw 17.1.5.2 so that outside of the playing season during the academic year, countable athletically related activities are prohibited two days per week and that individual skill instruction may be required while still limited to two hours within the limit of eight hours per week.

Agreed to propose legislation to amend the daily and weekly hour limitations so that multisport student-athletes' participation in countable athletically related activities shall be limited to four hours per day and 20 hours per week.

Charged the playing and practice seasons subcommittee to continue its review regarding whether a travel day should be counted as a day off in calculations of student-athletes' athletically related activities.

Recommended legislation requiring the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct to report to the Division I Management Council instead of the Championships/Competition Cabinet.

Reaffirmed its position on American Indian mascots as follows: "The cabinet is committed to the creation and preservation of quality championship opportunities for all student-athletes, regardless of their age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, religion, creed or sexual orientation. Hence, subject to review by the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and the NCAA Executive Committee, as appropriate, it is the position of the cabinet that access to the location of or management of NCAA championship events should not be restricted because of issues related to the use by institutions of American Indian mascots or images."