The Division III Football Committee is recommending that the geographic-proximity principle that is applied once the championship field is seeded and bracketed can be broken to protect highly seeded teams.

Currently, teams are seeded in four eight-team regions. The eight teams are seeded with each of the top four seeds receiving a first-round home contest. However, if two of the teams are within 500 miles of each other, and can create a pairing where a flight can be avoided, those two teams are paired regardless of how they are seeded. The policy is in place to promote regional competition and eliminate flights if two postseason participants are within driving distance of each other.

For example, it could be possible for Team A, which is a No. 2 seed and Team B, which could be a No. 4 seed, to play each other in the first round of the championship. In that scenario, one of the teams seeded five through eight would host a first-round game instead of going on the road.

The committee, which met January 30-February 2, wants to create a more equitable policy in which two teams that have earned the right to host because of their seed play at home rather than face another high seed on the road early in the championship.

The recommendation will go to the Division III Championships Committee. If approved, it would take effect with the 2008 championship.

The Division III Football Committee is also recommending that the squad size for all rounds of the championship be increased from 52 to 56, and that the travel party size grow from 62 to 66. Committee members cited additional access for student-athletes and accommodating teams’ specialized packages (such as dime or nickel defenses or multiple wide receiver sets) as reasons for making the change. They also noted that many conferences already allow more players to travel in the regular season than is allowed currently for championship participation.

Other recommendations:

That Division III football programs be allowed an evening walkthrough on the days teams only practice once during the five-day acclimatization period. Divisions I and II already have that legislation in place.

Pay official evaluators $100 each per game to attend every contest of the championship.

Members reasoned that games should be evaluated, so as the tournament advances, it increases the probability that the best officials are assigned to work those games.