Earlier this year, the NCAA announced that it was changing the system by which it would award National Championships. Instead of doing it at all different times on a sport-by-sport basis, they moved to a system where they announced all the championships at once. A few exceptions obviously apply (the Final Four, the College World Series), but my early take on this new system is very positive.
For the most part, we now know where all NCAA Championships will be held until 2017-18. The only sports where they didn't announce anything were baseball and softball. That's because of the tournament format in those two sports. The higher-seeded teams host each of the first two rounds before the College World Series, which is always in Omaha (baseball) and Oklahoma City (softball). Higher-seeded teams get to host first-round games in a lot of other sports, too, so mostly what was announced were regional and championship locations.
One of the biggest changes came in women's basketball, where they took many of Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman's suggestions. She recommended moving away from the predetermined first- and second-round sites that have been used for the past several years and often resulted in lower-seeded teams hosting a higher-seeded opponent. It also led to a bunch of poorly-attended games at venues that didn't include a home team. That'll change next year. The top 16 seeds will host. That's the way it should be. But, teams will not be allowed to host regionals. They controversially moved back to that this year, and it was met with the appropriate criticism. Once they're down to 16, the women's game is balanced enough that they should be at a neutral site with berths in the Final Four at stake. Next year that'll be the case. Regionals won't be on campus, and if they are, the host school can't play there.
The one suggestion Ackerman made that they didn't adopt, at least not yet, is moving the dates of the Women's Final Four from the current Sunday-Tuesday back to the old Friday-Sunday. I'm sure they'll adopt this soon enough, though. A Friday-Sunday format makes much more sense. They also left open the possibility that all three divisions could have the Final Four in the same city over the same weekend, something that has been discussed for a while.
Men's basketball wasn't touched. The 2015 sites had already been announced, and the NCAA has absolutely no reason to alter its selection process for host sites in the men's basketball tournament. What they've been doing has worked, and it's the most lucrative championship the NCAA has. The next two Final Fours after this season's in Dallas will take place in Indianapolis and Houston.
Likewise, the new College Football Playoff championship game has its own selection process. The semifinals will rotate among six existing bowls: Rose & Sugar, then Orange & Cotton, then Fiesta & Peach, and the championship game will be bid on just like the Super Bowl and Final Four. We know the first three championship games will take place in Dallas (2015), Phoenix (2016) and Tampa (2017). Division I-AA football wasn't included in the site selection, either. That's because they've got a long-term agreement to have the championship game in Frisco, Texas. (In fact, Division II football will continue to be in Kansas City and Division III will still be in Salem, Va., every year).
Another bold move was the awarding of the Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships beyond 2018, which now have a quasi-permanent home themselves. Every year from now until 2021, the Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field, meaning the event will be held in Eugene eight straight times. Hayward Field, by the way, is also hosting the 2014 World Junior Championships and 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, as well as the 2015 U.S. Nationals. If you're a track fan in the U.S., Eugene, Oregon is the place to be.
Some of the other highlights include the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden, the first NCAA championship event at MSG since 1950. (The men's basketball tournament returns to the Garden with the 2014 East Regional.) The 2017 Men's Frozen Four in Chicago for the first time. All three divisions in field hockey will be in Louisville in 2017, and both men's and women's lacrosse will be in Philadelphia in 2015 and 2016.
We'll see how this new system of awarding NCAA Championships years in advance plays out, but I don't see a downside to it. It gives the cities plenty of time for preparation, and it's good for coaches and athletes to know where they could potentially be going if they make the Tournament. And in sports where home games have always been part of the equation, they didn't mess with that formula. Which was the right decision. Because not only does it help attendance, but the top teams deserve to have that advantage in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They've earned it.
Although, if you notice, they have a lot of neutral site finals. Even if there's a host school, it's not necessarily on campus. That's also a good move. Because when you're crowning a champion, you want the playing field to be as level as possible.
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