The Division III Championships Committee is recommending the Management Council approve funding to broadcast the 2022 Division III Women's Basketball Championship game.
This one-time agreement will be similar to the contract agreement for Division II women's basketball to broadcast its semifinals and championship games.
The committee had previously approved funding for production costs for the 2023 championship game during the joint women's basketball championship with Divisions I and II in Dallas. At the request of the Championships Committee, the NCAA broadcast services staff continues to explore a long-term solution for the Division III Women's Basketball Championship game to be televised annually.
"We're thrilled at this opportunity to televise the women's basketball championship game in 2022," said Kiki Jacobs, committee chair and the director of athletics at Roger Williams. "This will provide greater exposure for our student-athletes on the biggest stage."
Regional rankings
The Division III Championships Committee also approved a pilot program this academic year that each sport committee, where applicable, will post the first published regional rankings alphabetically. The request came from the Division III Men's Basketball Committee under the rationale that the first regional ranking does not include results against ranked Division III opponents and that an alphabetical, initial posting would give the committee more time to digest the most complete data and have the second published ranking be more accurate. The Championships Committee will seek feedback after the pilot year and review the issue again next year.
Softball/baseball resolution
The committee approved that the softball championship date formula be moved one week later to match the dates of the baseball championship, effective with the 2023 championship. During its summer meeting, the committee reviewed the resolution adopted at the 2020 NCAA Convention directing the Division III Baseball and Softball Committees to evaluate potential changes to the championship date formulas for those sports to mitigate concerns regarding poor playing conditions due to inclement weather, missed class time due to rescheduled contests, overlap with final exams or graduation ceremonies, and equity concerns between spring sport and fall sport student-athletes.
Travel considerations
As the Association prepares for the 2021 fall championships, the committee looked at travel recommendations to make it possible to execute full fall brackets in a climate with heightened travel strain due to increased demand and a reduction in the number of flights. The committee is endorsing being more lenient on what is considered viable commercial space, including 6 a.m. departures, multiple splits and driving farther to the airport. The committee also favors increasing the hub rule from campus to airport or airport to site of competition to 250-plus miles.