August 3, 2009

RMAC Announces Pilot Programs For Conference Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has developed several pilot programs for conference championships at their July Athletic Administrator meeting. The pilot programs will affect nine of the league's 20 championships (baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, and volleyball).

The design and implementation of the pilot programs were as a result of the conference presidents' decision to save membership expenses and to maintain "student-athlete life in the balance" while sustaining the quality of the student-athlete experience.

"I believe these pilot practices will be a positive experience for our membership and student-athletes," stated RMAC Commissioner Joel R. Smith. "All of our member institutions are experiencing affects from the economy. Our goal is to shape our championships so they are cost effective, maintain the integrity of championships and preserve the student-athlete experience."

In conjunction with the championship pilot programs, the conference will also be implementing a cost sharing program that will involve each participating team in each sports championship.

In 2009, the Athletic Directors from the eight schools that sponsor baseball voted to rotate the tournament locations over the next three years. The rotations will transition between CSU-Pueblo (2009), Nebraska-Kearney (2010) and Mesa State (2011). In two years, the championships committee will review the rotation process and either decide to continue the rotation (and possibly add locations), or to revert back to the regular season champion as host of the conference tournament.

The fall sports that will test a second championship pilot program in 2009 will be men's and women's soccer and volleyball. Three weeks prior to the championship tournament, a bid process will be used to designate the championship tournament's host for each sport. The process for selecting each championship tournament host will involve the highest seeded team at the time that submits an adequate bid. Softball will also use this process in the spring for championship tournament selections. Following each conference championship, the RMAC's championship committee will review the pilot program and report the results to the RMAC Athletic Administrators and Presidents.

The conference basketball tournament will also see a change in format this winter. Traditionally, the top eight teams qualify for the basketball tournament, with the divisional winners receiving the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds and the next six best teams (regardless of division) filling the rest of the field. In the past, seeds one through four have hosted seeds five through eight, with the four winning teams advancing to the semifinal round. This year, the first round will remain in-division. The No. 1 seed in each division, will host the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed will host the No. 3 seed within the same division. The winners will advance to the semifinal round where the highest West Division seed will play the lowest East Division seed, and the highest East Division seed will play the lowest West Division seed.

The men's and women's tennis tournaments, which traditionally have been rotated among each of the six full-time members, will experience a pilot program for 2011 (due to prior commitments, Western New Mexico will remain host for 2010 in Albuquerque, N.M.). The tournament will take place at only one location in Denver (Gates Tennis Center). Metropolitan State College of Denver has agreed to act as host for the 2011 RMAC Tennis Tournament.
Currently, the 10 men's and women's championships that are held on a rotational basis will remain in their current format (cross country, golf, swimming and diving, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field).

The RMAC is a NCAA Division II conference located in Colorado Springs, Colo. with 14 member institutions in Colorado, Nebraska and New Mexico. Founded in 1909, it is the fourth oldest conference in the United States.