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NAIA Basketball Divisions Merger Signals Beginning of a New Era
As the NAIA merges its basketball divisions from two down to one, its historic 32-team tournament format in Kansas City will also adjust .
As things rapidly changed by the minute last March, a day into the NAIA Division II Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships in Sioux Falls, S . D . , and Sioux City, Iowa, it became increasingly clear as the hours went by that college basketball had seen its last champions crowned in the NAIA in its current format .
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The NAIA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments had been a staple in the world of college basketball since the late 1930’s . A simple concept for a tournament not seen anywhere else . A 32-team championship bracket, housed at one site, played over the course of six days . It sounds incredible for the college basketball enthusiast… eight games a day for the first three days with an early morning tip-off before 9:00 a . m . and an end to the day after midnight .
The NAIA has been doing it this way for over 80 years, but as changes have occurred around it, the NAIA held strong to its approach . As with all things, however, change occurs and with it came the merger of its divisions and a new approach to the tournament format .
2020 was supposed to be the last tournament of the old format, which was designed by the NAIA to be a salute to its rich basketball history . Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic response, the Division II tournaments halted and shut down play while the Division I tournaments were canceled .
In 2021, the NAIA will, for the first time, have a 16-team tournament held over the course of five days to crown one champion on both the men’s and women’s side. To qualify for this final site championship bracket, teams will travel to an “Opening Round” tournament with four teams at various sites around the country . The winners of each of the 16 Opening Round tournaments will head to Sioux City, Iowa (Women’s) and Kansas City, Mo . (Men’s) . Overall, the championship will be a field of 64.
The final format comes after the NAIA Divisions in Basketball Task Force nearly two-year review and recommendation for a single basketball division with potential formats . The National Administrative Council (NAC) Championship sub-committee reviewed all information and data and presented the recommended format which was approved by the full NAC body .
The rationale behind the NAC’s decision was that a 64 qualifier/16-team final site tournament will offer a superior student-athlete experience, as well as provide the best opportunity for cost savings and team travel reimbursement . This format also retains the same amount of national qualifiers as it did for the current two-division format .
Changing a format is no easy task and the NAIA has been hard at work since the announcement in the summer of 2018 to work through a number of hurdles . The championship selection, which utilized the national Top 25 ratings to determine the at-large berths, will now move to a selection committee to fill the final field of 64. The committee, which will be made-up of coaches, athletic directors and conference commissioners, will determine the field based on a number of criteria . The goal at the end is to ensure that the best 64 teams are included of the over 230 schools that field a men’s basketball team in the NAIA .
While the sports world has seen its share of shut downs, the NAIA continues to work toward making its new format a truly memorable experience for its student-athletes .
Small College Athletics Finds Ways to Survive Through Pandemic
Like everyone else in the sports world, the NAIA is working toward solutions in making athletics a reality as changes occur rapidly for its 250 member institutions
Throughout collegiate and professional sports, the primary focus has surrounded how to continue the business of sports through a global health crisis . While Major League Baseball stumbled out of the gate figuring out how to safely get through a season outside of a bubble (and has since found solutions to its issues), those sports that created such an environment have thrived . Nearly zero cases in the NBA bubble and not one positive case in the NHL’s version in Canada have proven that sports can still continue safely given the right environment and set of parameters .
As thoughts now turn to college sports, it remains to be seen what will transpire, but small colleges are as eager as ever to get their student-athletes back on the field or the court, so long as it is done safely . The NAIA has taken time and consideration in looking at each set of data and circumstances in putting together a strategy that will work for all of its members . Its model takes an approach that the best way to continue is to put the power in the hands of its member conferences and institutions to make the best decisions for their schools .
As the season has changed to fall, thoughts turn to basketball and other winter sports . Recently, the NAIA announced that there have been no changes in the winter championship calendar and that its membership will retain the autonomy on how to schedule games and return to play .
It is through this autonomy that the NAIA membership is seeing advantages on campuses . A regional approach has been critical to its early success stories . Among small schools this fall, the NAIA is the largest association that has membership competing in all fall sports, though championships have been delayed until the spring . With basketball on the horizon, it bodes well for schools that have already had indoor sports played and have been able to learn how to better handle the trials and tribulations of playing in this new environment .
As basketball practices continue to ramp-up across the country at every level, the NAIA members may be the most prepared to kick things off, which could prove critical in their success of hosting a full season this year .
