Two round NCAA Qualifying Tournament
1st Round - NCAA Regional
NCAA Regional Championships will be run four weeks prior to the current Regional Championship date (corresponding to the current Pre-NCAA Meet date). Regions will remain as they are ? nine Regions
The top 11 teams from each Regional Championship qualify for one of three Super-Regional Championships to be held four weeks after the Regional meets. This date corresponds with our current Regional Championship date (2nd weekend in November).
The top three individuals not on qualifying teams from each Region advance to the Super-Regional.
Any team that wins it?s Conference Championship, but does not place in the top 11 teams in the Regional would advance to the Super-Regional.
The top ten finishers from a Conference Championship would advance individually to the Super-Regional (if not on qualifying team).
2nd Round - NCAA Super-Regional
Three Super-Regions are created by combining groups of the three current Regions.
Super-Regions would be:
1)West ? Mountain - South Central
2)Midwest - Great Lakes - South
3)Northeast ? Mid-Atlantic ? Southeast
The top 10 teams from each Super-Regional advance to the NCAA Championships for a total of 30 teams.
An impartial committee will select the top three non-qualifying teams from any of the three Super-Regionals to advance to the NCAA Championship for a total of 33 teams.
The top eight individuals not on qualifying teams from each Super-Region advance to the NCAA Championships.
Competition distance for the Super-Regional = 10k men, 6k women.
The Rationale
Answers to why this proposal is the best solution to the ?qualifying problem?
This plan meets the NCAA?s criteria for regional representation.
By advancing 11 teams from the Regional and 10 teams from the Super-Regional meets ? the plan very nearly insures the best teams will advance to the next round.
The need to travel for at-large points is eliminated.
Head to head competition determines which teams qualify.
The number of teams that can claim to have qualified for the NCAA ?tournament? will increase from 31 to at least 99.
Teams will not be locked in to the Griak and Pre-NCAA meets. They are free to schedule any way they would like.
Answers to objections to this proposal
(Q) What about the teams that don?t qualify for Super-Regionals? Their season will be over after the Conference meet.
(A) Every team can qualify for the Super-Regional by winning their Conference meet. Teams that cannot finish in the top 11 of their Region nor win their conference, would not qualify under any plan including the current system. Those schools would be free to start competition earlier in the fall.
It could also be argued that not only do we provide ample opportunities for distance runners to compete ? we provide too many opportunities between cross country, indoors and outdoors.
(Q) The West-Mountain-SouthCentral Super-Region looks very tough. Isn?t this proposal unfair to those teams?
(A) Under the current system, there has never been a year when both the Mountain and the West have qualified six teams. There has never been a year when the West-Mountain-SouthCentral have collectively qualified more than 13 teams - the maximum allowed under this proposal.
The average NCAA finish for a 6th place regional team is 24.7.
The average NCAA finish for a 6th place Mountain/West regional team is 24.3
The average NCAA finish for a 5th place regional team is 24.9.
The average NCAA finish for a 5th place Mountain/West regional team is 25.0.
With 10 teams (and a possibility of 13) qualifying out of each Regional, the likely -hood of a team being both a top 20 team, yet not being in the top 10 in the Super-Region is very slim.
(Q) With one weekend of competition eliminated for those teams not advancing to the Super-Region - some teams might not have enough weekends to schedule 6 competitions (the NCAA minimum) - is it possible to reduce the minimum number of competitions to 5?
(A) This is a queston the NCAA Track and Field Rules committee would be asked to consider if the proposal is passed.
(Q) You have added one more mandatory meet to my schedule. Doesn?t this proposal limit my scheduling opportunities and my planning as a coach?
(A) If you consider your team to be a serious contender for an at-large berth - you already must compete at either the Griak or Pre-NCAA or both. It is true that if you do not consider yourself a contender for an at-large - you have more freedom in scheduling now. But clearly the goal for every team should be to make the ?tournament?. This proposal greatly increases every team?s chances.