My 48 - team Proposal for Postseason D3 Football

[The Third Division]

Since the NCAA separates all the conferences in D3 Football into 6 "regions", my idea is to incorporate "regional championships" into the mix.

My idea is this: 8-team playoff brackets per region. The less conferences the more at-large bids, and vice versa. That gets you 48 teams in the playoffs.

Each of the 6 "regional champions" are in the "final" playoffs with the top 2 of them receiving an automatic bid to the second round to the "final" playoffs.

Because this is a 6-week playoff system, one less regular season game would have to be played, meaning some conferences don't get any non-conference games (maybe even one less for that matter).

As much as some may disagree with this idea, I would love to see the NCAA incorporate Regional Championships into the mix of the playoffs. And I think my idea allows for more accessibility into the playoffs. This 48-team system allows the top 20 percent of d3 football to compete in the postseason as opposed to the top 13.3 percent.

[jknezek]

Since the NCAA separates all the conferences in D3 Football into 6 "regions", my idea is to incorporate "regional championships" into the mix.

My idea is this: 8-team playoff brackets per region. The less conferences the more at-large bids, and vice versa. That gets you 48 teams in the playoffs.

Each of the 6 "regional champions" are in the "final" playoffs with the top 2 of them receiving an automatic bid to the second round to the "final" playoffs.

Because this is a 6-week playoff system, one less regular season game would have to be played, meaning some conferences don't get any non-conference games (maybe even one less for that matter).

As much as some may disagree with this idea, I would love to see the NCAA incorporate Regional Championships into the mix of the playoffs. And I think my idea allows for more accessibility into the playoffs. This 48-team system allows the top 20 percent of d3 football to compete in the postseason as opposed to the top 13.3 percent.

The problem has never been how to do it, though lots of ideas have been kicked around. The problem has always been, and will always be, who is going to pay for it. As we inch ever closer to the D1 Power 5 taking their money and running, it becomes an even bigger problem. I did the rough math last year in this post for total D3 costs if the membership has to cover D3 costs themselves:

So the championships are about 2/3rds of the budget. That makes this kind of easy. The division overhead is about 1/3 the budget or $12 million. So, the total D3 membership of 440 schools will have to cover this amount. There are 8043 teams on that spreadsheet. $12 million / 8043 = $1500 per team, essentially. That's what it's going to cost to have a team in a sport in D3 if we divide up the overhead equally.

So if you want to have all 23 sports, it's going to cost $34,500 annually if you don't want to participate in the national tournaments. Now, let's talk about championships. Let's assume your 23 sports are the 23 most popular, which is basically every men's and women's sport with more than 125 participants. That rules out Men's and Women's Ice Hockey, Women's Rowing, Men's Volleyball, and Men's Wrestling. 11 men's sports, 12 women's left.

How much will it cost? Well, for the 11 men's championships, it's another $41,000. For women, it's another $36,000. So $77,000 more for a total annual cost of...

$111,000

That $2000 per school that we are paying right now looks like an awfully good deal, doesn't it? Sure are going to miss that charity from D1 and I sure do understand why D3, despite being the largest division by schools and athletes, doesn't push real hard for more handouts....

And yes, for those keeping track at home... to avoid Title IX issues, you are probably going to have to find a way to even out those numbers. So that means adding some to the women, taking away some from the men, or both.

Football isn't a sacred cow in D3 like it is for D1. It's one of the more expensive sports, though it also drives significant enrollment. For most schools, it's probably the athletic team most likely to drive alumni involvement, but for most schools in D3 that's a fairly low value as well. So the concept of a larger playoff makes sense given access ratios and school participation, but the cost of doing so is a massive problem.

D3 spent a few years getting their costs under control not long ago. Given the future uncertainty, I suspect they are unwilling to let them spiral again, and increasing the size of the football championships, or any championships, is a very easy way of letting costs spiral since the Division, not the participating schools, is 100% on the hook for food, lodging, travel, and game costs.

[sigma one]

  I am always impressed when someone comes up with new ideas for D3.   Those ideas keep us thinking and invite comment.  So, there have been previous suggestions about changing the current playoff system.  This one clearly calls on the new regional configuration as a way to arrange the post season.  Nicely done,  but I can see a couple of problems right off the top.  1.  Who now knows where the NCAA as a governing body will be soon.  (Next couple of years?)  The reorganization of the Power Five conferences opens Pandora's Box, and what escapes might not help Division 3.   In fact, I will go further:  it is likely not to help any part of D3, especially financially.  I think the best we might hope for with the NCAA is the status quo.  Many outcomes are possible, of course.  Some of them we might not even postulate currently.  Etc, etc. 2.  I think many schools would take a dim view of a nine-game regular season when so many of them would still have very little chance of making the playoffs by winning their conference and getting in as an at-large entry.  Some traditional OOC rivalries might be lost.  3.  If, related to #1, the NCAA changes significantly (in ways we cannot now know)  the burden of sponsoring the Playoffs probably falls to D3 members and conferences, and certainly to this or another new arrangement to keep sports afloat.  Again, if it changes those teams with no/little chance could be reluctant to sponsor so many teams advancing to the post season.  Heaven forbid if the burden falls on the individual schools themselves to fund playoffs, not just in football but in all sports.  Could this lead back to the discussion of some time ago about a split within the Division--D3 and D4 (or some other title)?
I hesitate to go on because i believe this is plenty to keep a discussion going--others will have their own take.  Fun to talk about until things get started for 2022.
I was putting this together when jknezek replied.  Our thoughts overlap, but I am leaving mine up.  His math is telling.