NCAA Committee II

In my ten plus years as Director of Athletics here at Hardin-Simmons, one aspect of the job that I have truly enjoyed was serving on the NCAA Division III National Football Committee. I enjoyed serving on the committee for three reasons: one, it allowed me the opportunity to see up close how the championship selection process works. I might not always agree with the NCAA on issues such as geographic proximity, but I can at least understand why the NCAA makes the decisions that they do. Second, I had the opportunity to work with some great athletic administrators from around the country who provided me some great insight on how to do your job on a college campus. Finally, serving on the committee allowed me to see firsthand student-athletes achieving the goal of competing in a national championship game, which is a thrill only a handful of athletes get to experience.

Last week I learned that I had been appointed to the Division III National Women’s Soccer Committee and I hope this work will be a rewarding as serving on the football committee. The purpose of the committee is to develop policies and procedures governing the administration and conduct of the NCAA. The committee evaluates and ranks the teams throughout the eight regions and helps with the administration of the Final Four Championship weekend, which will be in Orlando over the Thanksgiving weekend. I know that serving on a committee also means spending countless hours on conference calls discussing the rankings and the selections for the playoff bracket. Many times the conference calls go deep into the wee hours of the morning as the committee attempts to select the right teams and place them in the right bracket. Just as with the Division I selections for the basketball tournament, there are always schools who are left out. I can empathize with them as HSU has been on the outside looking in on several occasions when it comes to the post-season.

I look forward to the challenges that serving on the committee will provide over the next four years. I believe that serving on NCAA committees is a great learning experience and a wonderful way to represent our campus on a national level.