Since the quality-of-winning-percentage index no longer will be used in selection of teams for Division II championships beginning in 2006-07, the Division II Football Committee focused during its February 8-10 meeting in Indianapolis on elements of the selection criteria for its upcoming championships.

Committee chair Bob Boerigter said the group has relied on the tool to help fill the bracket for the football championship. But since the index — a system that awarded points for defeating teams with high winning percentages on a sliding-scale basis — has been removed from selection criteria in all sports by the Division II Championships Committee, Boerigter and his fellow members are recommending a different set of criteria for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

The recommendation calls for the primary criteria to be an institution’s Division II won-loss record and its Division II strength of schedule. These won’t be the only ingredients to the formula, which will consist of a worksheet that will be studied in depth by the committee.

“Of course, we continue to look at head-to-head competition and results against common opponents,” said Boerigter, director of athletics at Northwest Missouri State University. “As we begin to evaluate the Division II won-lost record, we’re trying to determine how they did against teams with a .500 or worse record, or teams with a better than .500 record. We have some additional columns to help us get into a tiebreaker situation. We’re also looking at accumulative records against Division II opponents.”

If the recommendation is approved by the Division II Championships Committee, games against Division I-AA opponents will no longer be a part of the primary criteria in the selection process.

If a Division II institution competes against a Division I-AA sponsored team, it will still be evaluated, but it won’t carry the same weight as it used to. Previously, institutions could rely on games against Division

I-AA programs as a way to improve strength of schedule.

The committee is still encouraging Division II football programs to play 11 games during the regular season, if possible.

“We would rather have a team play an 11th game against a Division I-AA opponent than elect to stay home and not play at all,” Boerigter said.

The committee has added a requirement that institutions must play a 10-game schedule, beginning with the 2006 football season.

“There is a waiver opportunity available if a team can’t do that,” Boerigter said. “We feel the more games teams play, the better it helps us in the evaluation process. We want to make sure the best six teams in each of the four regions qualify for postseason play.”

Changes in selection criteria are communicated to coaches around the country, but obtaining feedback on proposed changes presents some challenges for the committee.

The American Football Coaches Association convention in January is a place where the committee can obtain feedback on proposed changes. However, many institutions work on future schedules at the end of a football season, during November and December.

The Division II Football Committee and the championships committee meet after the AFCA convention.

Other highlights

Division II Football Committee

February 8-10/Indianapolis

• Reviewed the recommendations from the Division II Football Task Force, and provided feedback on the various points.
• Established August 24 as the first date of permissible contests for 2006; November 18 will mark the first round of the playoffs; and the Division II championship game will be December 16 in Florence, Alabama. The dates for the first round of the playoffs and the championship game are subject to approval by the Division II Championships Committee.
• The first NCAA Division II regional rankings will be released October 9.
• Changed the video exchange policy, reqiring coaching staffs to send tapes of all games to each other for scouting purposes. Previously, staffs only had to send the three latest games to other institutions.
• Reviewed the proposed regionalization model (see story, page 11) and its potential impact on football.