The Division II Football Committee recommended several modifications to postseason selection criteria during its annual meeting February 2-5 in Phoenix.

Among the recommendations to be forwarded to the Division II Championships Committee is for Division II football strength-of-schedule (SOS) calculations to be based on a team's record versus all opponents from (1) Division II, (2) any Division I-A opponent, (3) any Division I-AA opponent from a Division I-AA automatic-qualifying conference, (4) a Division I-AA independent opponent, or (5) a Division I-AA opponent from a conference with a league championship game.

The recommendation comes on the heels of a requirement that an analysis of strength of schedule be used for championships selection for all team sports in Division II. The individual application of the SOS will be left up to individual sport committees.

The strength-of-schedule index used in 2004 still would be used in 2005, but it will be called the quality-of-winning-percentage index.

The committee also recommended that in 2005, an institution must play at least 10 games to be considered for selection to the playoffs. Waiver opportunities would continue to be available. Another recommended change to the selection criteria would be to return late-season performance to the formula. Late-season performance would be based on the last four games a team played. The last time it was factored into the selection criteria was 2000.

The committee also recommended changes in the selection tiebreaker criteria. The first and second criteria will continue to be head-to-head competition and results against common opponents. However, the committee will recommend that the third tiebreaker be the won-lost record against opponents in Division II and higher, as described earlier. The fourth tiebreaker criteria, which had been the overall won-lost record, would, under the committee's recommendation, become the quality-of-winning-percentage index.

Those recommendations will go to the Division II Championships Committee in June. The Division II Football Committee will submit recommendations to the Championships Committee in September for changing the policy that requires teams within 500 miles of a championship site to drive to the site instead of taking an airplane. Officials said they would recommend that the figure be reduced to 300 miles for the championship game only.

Committee members also decided to move the first regular-season ranking call back one week in 2005, so that the first ranking would be released October 3. The change would mean the rankings would be released at the midpoint of the season, still in compliance with Division II regulations. The change allows an extra week of games to be taken into account before the rankings are made.

Other highlights

Division II Football Committee<
February 2-5/Phoenix

• Improved the video-exchange policy to make it more equitable for teams with byes and those competing in the first round.

• Agreed that all tournament games will begin at noon local time, instead of between noon and 1 p.m.

• Agreed to ask institutions bidding to host championship games to include a seating plan with their bid materials. This change was made in order to enhance sportsmanship at championship events related to seating for the visiting team.

• Formalized the following inclement weather policy: The games committee and referee will confer three hours before the start of the game and every 30 minutes thereafter to consider delaying the start time of a game due to inclement weather. If the game cannot be completed, the games committee will confer with the Division II Football Committee for permission to postpone the event until the next day.

• Recommended that the maximum number of uniformed cheerleaders allowed at a championship contest be increased from 18 to 24, plus a mascot and a cheerleader coach.

• Noted that in the first year of expanded playoffs, every Division II conference sponsoring football had at least one of its officiating crews receive a playoff assignment. The committee also strongly encouraged all football conferences to send their supervisor of officials to the annual officiating clinic to be held in Chicago this July.