Review of 2014 Selection, Seeding and Bracketing Process, and Review of Division I Women’s Basketball Rating-Percentage Index (RPI) system.

a. Division I Women’s Basketball Selection, Seeding and Bracketing Principles and Procedures. The committee reviewed Section III, Principles for Placing Teams into the Championship Bracket, in depth due to the changes in championship hosting. Upon further review of the 2014 principles, several referenced different scenarios in which a team may be allowed to meet a conference opponent during the championship. These principles had been added or adjusted since the document was created to address specific issues the committee faced as part of the bracketing process, making the full document muddled and difficult to follow. The committee decided the purpose of those principles was to separate teams from the same conference, but more specifically, teams who had played each other three or more times during the season. The committee approved the adjustment to the principles and procedures to read as follows:

• “Each of the first four teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions if they are seeded on the first four lines.”

• “Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional final if they played each other three or more times during the regular season and conference tournament.”

• “The committee will attempt to keep conference teams from meeting until the regional final round.”

• “If the committee is unable to balance the bracket after exhausting all possible options, it has the flexibility to permit two teams from the same conference to meet each other after the first round.”

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The proposed policy gives the committee the most flexibility to keep conference teams separated but allow decisions based on geography and balancing the bracket as needed. Teams in the top four lines continue to be protected from playing each other prior to regional competition.

The committee examined the regional hosting parameters and whether hosting on a neutral court should be adjusted within the selection principles. Neutral regional hosting parameters, as outlined from the 2013 principles and procedures document, did not permit a host institution’s team to play at a site where the institution was hosting, therefore mandating that team travel to a different regional. The committee believed allowing institutions to host at a neutral venue would encourage more institutions to host. The committee approved the adjustment to the principles and procedures to read as follows:

“For the regional competition, a team may not be assigned to play in an arena in which it has played more than three regular-season games, not including conference postseason tournaments.”

Additionally, the committee reviewed how non-predetermined hosting will affect placing teams in the bracket. First and second rounds will be awarded to the top 16 teams that meet the requirements for hosting, but there will be scenarios in which a top 16 team does not, or is unable to, submit a bid to host. To stay true to bracketing principles, the committee will need to receive bids from the top 32-36 teams, or up to lines eight and nine, to have enough flexibility in bracketing the full field. The committee approved the new principles to read as follows:

• “First- and second-round sites will be awarded to the top 16 seeded teams that submit a bid that meets the requirements for hosting.”

• “In the event that a top 16 seeded team does not submit a bid, or the bid does not meet requirements for hosting, the committee will select a host from the remaining submitted bids that meet the requirements for hosting. In order to adhere to the bracketing principles, it may not be possible to select the next highest seed to host.”

The committee requested mock selections/bracketing at future meetings to review the new process. The entire committee stressed the need for educational outreach to those teams that may be on lines five through nine to ensure enough bids are received for the process. Part of the motivation behind non-predetermined sites was to reward teams for a good season by allowing them to play at home, so the committee would like to consider hosting in seed order as much as possible.

b. Review of Online Conference Monitoring Program Supported by Conference Media Relations Directors. At the 2014 Women’s Final Four , Mr. Nixon met with conference sports information directors who proposed eliminating the online system

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requiring them to input information such as key injured/unavailable, etc. The SIDs believe the information is redundant, since much of it is being disclosed through phone calls with committee members. Committee members said the system is valuable in that it provides information regarding conferences they do not monitor as a primary or secondary assignment. Ms. Browne mentioned the importance of documenting and tracking the information available to the committee in regard to selecting and seeding the teams. The committee decided to keep the online system but asked that sports information contacts limit the data input to the top teams in their conference and not all teams in the conference to minimize redundancies.

c. Selection Announcement. The committee voted in October to move the selection announcement to Sunday in conjunction with the move to earlier playing days. However, at the committee’s January meeting in conjunction with the NCAA Convention, ESPN raised concerns about moving the selection show and strongly encouraged the committee to keep the announcement on Monday so as to avoid competition for media coverage with the announcement of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship field. The committee agreed in principle to keep the selection announcement on Monday, though no formal vote was taken. After again discussing the selection announcement with ESPN at this meeting, the committee voted and approved keeping the selection announcement show on Monday.

18. Meeting with Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Representatives.