The Division II Championships Committee has approved a pilot program for 2009-10 that allows “format advisory groups” to recommend an alternative to the current eight-team bracket for men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball regionals.

The committee at its June meeting endorsed a plan for groups composed of the conference commissioners in a given region, at least one member of the Championships Committee, the region’s national sport committee representative and several members of the regional advisory committee to select from the following options:

• One site hosting seven teams (the current format)
• Two sites each hosting three teams
• Four sites each hosting one team. 

The format advisory groups can propose other options as well, and different options may be recommended for different sports. Groups must declare a format by August 1 for volleyball and by September 1 for basketball.

The pilot is a result of a year-long review of regional formats in sports where the one-site-hosting-seven-teams format has been the norm. The Championships Committee believes giving regions the additional flexibility will lead to the most efficient business model for conducting NCAA postseason competition.

It also aligns with the committee’s charge from the Division II Presidents Council to help lead the “Life in the Balance” initiative that seeks more efficient administration of Division II’s regular-season and postseason competition.

“This is an opportunity to establish better business practices for Division II championships,” said Championships Committee Chair David Riggins, the athletics director at Mars Hill. “It also provides some autonomy for region members to determine how best to conduct their own tournaments.”

This past year, the Championships Committee implemented a “contingency plan” that called for regions to conduct tournaments at two sites if the one-site model required the seven other teams to fly.

The Men’s Basketball Committee ended up having to apply the contingency plan to its West region, in which No. 1 seed Brigham Young-Hawaii and No. 2 seed Western Washington each hosted a four-team subregional. The decision saved thousands of dollars in travel expenses without compromising the top seed’s ability to host regional competition.

The contingency plan remains in place this year for regions that choose the one-site model.

The format advisory groups will be armed with travel analyses for regionals conducted over the past several years in basketball and volleyball. Those analyses use software the sport committees have at their disposal to help with travel distances and costs.

Riggins said even though the format advisory groups are being asked to make recommendations well in advance of even speculating which teams might compose the field, the three previous years of data and costs should give the groups an understanding of which format provides a better experience for the student-athletes and a cost savings for the championships budget. 

The committee will use expenses for running an eight-team bracket at one site as a baseline to compare recommendations. Given that, Riggins said, while format advisory groups will have some flexibility in their recommendations, a more expensive recommendation will be difficult to approve. He emphasized, though, that final decisions will be based on the integrity of the bracket and the overall student-athlete experience in addition to the financial implications.

“Part of the ‘Life in the Balance’ effort is to align our policies and procedures regarding athletics competition with the attributes identified in our strategic-positioning platform,” Riggins said. “In addition to trying to enhance the student-athlete experience as much as possible, the platform also calls on the division to operate in a fiscally prudent and responsible manner.”

The Championships Committee will notify the membership of format decisions for volleyball in late August and decisions for men’s and women’s basketball in late September.

The committee will review the pilot again at its summer 2010 meeting. While the pilot applies to just three sports for now, the committee may expand the concept to other sports if the effort proves successful.