NCAA Convention Recap

The 2008 NCAA Convention for Division III will be remembered for many reasons for our division. For the first time, the talk about subdivision and NCAA Division IV went from hotel lobby talk to being a part of the conversation on the convention floor. There has been much speculation about the future of Division III and the college landscape as we know it will likely change in the next three to five years.

One major factor behind the potential change is that the television contract the NCAA has signed with CBS to cover the Division One Basketball Tournament will expire in 2013. The NCAA would like to negotiate the new contract within the next 16 to 24 months. If there is a new division or subdivision for Division III, that would be an issue to include in the contract negotiations. Currently, Division III receives just over 3% from the multi-billion dollar contract that CBS pays the NCAA for the broadcast rights. This money is used to help pay for championship travel for teams when they advance in the NCAA post-season.

There are many institutions at the Division III level who are happy with the division as it is and do not want to see a split. I believe there are a significant number of institutions which would like to see the return of redshirting, the return of more non-traditional playing dates and more skill instruction for our student-athletes. Then there are schools which would like to see even more restrictions placed on the role of athletics on a college campus. Finding a mandate between these three groups will be a daunting task that will likely leave many in the membership unhappy with the final decision.

As of now, the timetable calls for the NCAA to send out a survey to Division III schools to find out their opinions on the future of our division. There will be discussion between university presidents, athletic directors and conference commissioners about the positives and negatives of a potential split. After a year of discussion, the vote could be put before the membership at the 2009 convention in Washington, D.C. It is only appropriate that one of the polarizing issues for the NCAA could be decided in a city that lives and breathes politics.

The Chinese have a saying “May you live in interesting times” That is exactly what our membership will be doing for the next 12 months.

Cowboy Up.

John Neese