The Division III Championships Committee on Tuesday recommended that winter and spring 2021 national championship brackets and field sizes not exceed 75 percent of their standard capacity.
A caveat to the proposal is if a sport’s maximum number of allocated automatic qualifiers surpasses the 75 percent threshold, the championship could expand the field to accommodate each automatic berth. This is consistent with the Division III philosophy of emphasizing conference competition. The committee’s main goal was to preserve access to NCAA championships through automatic qualification.
Field sizes for individual sports also would be reduced to 75 percent of their typical size.
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The recommendation will make its way through the Division III governance structure, including getting feedback from winter and spring sport committees, before the Management and Presidents Councils make a final decision in October.
The financial impact wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic is the driving force behind the proposal.
The health crisis already has forced Division III to cancel its 2020 winter, spring and fall championships. As in many schools and conferences, tough financial decisions also are being…
