BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Competition Oversight Committee released its proposed fall sport championship recommendation to the NCAA Division I Council. The Division I Council is slated to vote on the proposal during the group’s September 16 meeting.
The committee supports a 25% reduction in the bracket size for team sports to meet the directives of the NCAA Board of Governors in conducing the fall championships in the 2021 spring semester. The committee also supports providing all automatic-qualifying conference access to the brackets, with the remaining spots allocated to at-large selections.
Due to these criteria, the recommendation for men’s water polo is a six team field comprised of automatic bids awarded to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC), Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Golden Coast Conference and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The championship will be held on the weekend of March 20-21, 2021. Stanford University was selected as the host for the championship originally slated for the fall of 2020.
The format is a change from the previous format of eight teams (six automatic/two at-large). Last year, the SCIAC turned back their automatic bid to compete in the USA Water Polo Division III Championship thereby creating an eight team field of five automatics and three at-large.
The committee also reviewed recommendations from sport committees and agreed to support maximum flexibility to allow teams to meet specified minimum contest requirements (which the committee already recommended reducing by 50% at a previous meeting). The committee also approved counting contests conducted in the fall term for all fall sport championships conducted in the spring thereby encouraging sport committees to consider all data available to them at the time of selections. The committee acknowledged possibly needing to revisit this topic if conditions warrant nearer the time the playing and practice seasons for these sports begin, but for now the committee supports providing maximum flexibility for selection purposes.
The NCAA Competition Oversight Committee has oversight responsibility of regular season and championships administration in sports other than football and men’s and women’s basketball, including supervision of qualification and/or selection procedures for Division I and National Collegiate Championships. The committee prioritizes enhancement of the student-athlete educational experience (academically and athletically) and, in doing so, promote student-athletes’ personal growth and leadership development.
The Competition Oversight Committee reviews recommendations from sports committees and process other issues related to the administration of those championships. The sports committees (other than football and men’s and women’s basketball) report directly to the Competition Oversight Committee.
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