Official NCAA Release
INDIANAPOLIS – On Friday, following a meeting between the NCAA Division II Presidents Council and Management Council, approved recommendations from the Championships Committee were confirmed in an official announcement to membership.
Most notably, Division II affirmed plans to host all of the 2021 winter national championships.
The Division II Championships Committee recommended the division move forward with hosting its seven winter championships after reviewing participation data and upcoming schedules across those sports. Nearly all finals sites will remain the same, except for the women's basketball and wrestling championships. The women's basketball championship will be held at the Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center, and the wrestling championship will be at the America's Center in St. Louis, Mo. No changes have been made to the swimming and diving championships format.
The Management Council also approved a variety of other recommendations from the Championships Committee related to this year's winter and spring championships, including adjustments to the 2021 basketball regional alignment, on which the Presidents Council took final action. The other changes approved fell within the Management Council's authority and were presented to the Presidents Council as information-only items.
Some of these changes directly impact member Great Midwest Athletic Conference institutions, specifically in men's and women's basketball. For this year, regional alignment is slightly different to accommodate active playing conferences and geographic proximity. The Great Midwest will temporarily step out of the Midwest Region and into the Atlantic Region. Other conferences from the Atlantic Region contending for NCAA Championship tournament bids with the Great Midwest will be the Mountain East Conference (MEC), the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).
The regional advisory committees for basketball have been shuffled around appropriately. They will continue to review selection criteria that will ultimately comprise the national championship brackets.
The Management Council approved a recommendation to eliminate the minimum number of contests required for selection for this year's Division II Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships (three contests with 10 participants) and instead require one qualifying mark.
The rationale to reduce the minimum selection criteria centered on how COVID-19 has restricted Division II schools' access to indoor tracks. The qualifying marks established for the indoor championships must still be met.
The indoor track and field championship format has been extended from a two-day setup to a three-day format. The men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon headline day one while track and field events are spread out for both Friday and Saturday, March 12-13.