By
Tim Heiduk
June 27, 2020
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) The NAIA announced permanent changes to the format of its national championships in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience. The changes, made in part to save institutional money, were voted on by the NAIA National Administrative Council (NAC) during virtual meetings.
One of the most significant changes is that the designated host team for the national championships in sports that have Opening Round competition will no longer receive an automatic berth to the Final Site. The host team will still receive a spot in the Opening Round of the national tournament, but will have to win that in order to advance to the Final Site.
This is part of the NAIA's initiative to move away from its previous model, and affects Westmont sports such as men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, as well as baseball.
Westmont men's soccer will be the Warrior team most immediately impacted by this decision, as the Golden State Athletic Conference is scheduled to host the NAIA Men's Soccer Championships the next two years, as it has done for the previous two. Last year, the third-seeded Westmont men's soccer team went straight to the Final Site as the host team due to the Warriors' regular season GSAC title.
Another notable change for the NAIA soccer and volleyball championships is the number of teams qualifying for the national tournament and the manner in which they are grouped.
In men's and women's soccer, changes were made for last year's NAIA National Tournament, expanding the overall tournament field from 32 to 46 teams, with 15 Opening Rounds of three teams each and the winners joining the host team at the Final Site.
Those changes lasted only one year, as the national championship field is now reduced down to 40 teams. There will now be 10 Opening Round sites of four teams each, with the 10 winners then advancing to the Final Site. As the designated Final Site host, the GSAC will receive an automatic bid into the Opening Round field, but will also have the option to host a four-team Opening Round.
At the Final Site, the top-six seeds remaining will go straight to the quarterfinals. The seventh highest seed left will play the 10th and lowest seed remaining, while seeds eight and nine will also play each other, with the winners of those two games booking their spot to join the top-six teams in the final eight.
These changes were initially supposed to go into effect in 2021, but because of the financial ramifications of COVID-19, it was decided to push them up a year. NAIA Director of Championships Mike Higgins said this decision will save institutions almost $250,000 this year.
"The Golden State Athletic Conference has established itself as a strong NAIA championship host," Higgins said. "I know our schools greatly appreciate them being nimble to facilitate the change during these challenging COVID-19 times."
The NAIA still needs to work out some of the details for the men's soccer championships in order to accomplish this change in format.
"The NAC is working to try to accommodate date availability issues with the Irvine Great Soccer Park and local hotels," Higgins said. "We hope to have a resolution by mid-July."
Additionally, rest days have been added at both the Opening Round and Final Site in soccer. Last year, there was no day of rest for teams playing on the first day of an Opening Round before playing the seeded team the following day, while at the Final Site, there was a single rest day between quarterfinal and semifinal matches. Now, there will be days of rest between every match played at both the Opening Round and Final Site.
In women's volleyball, there will be no more direct berths straight to the NAIA Final Site for any teams. Previously, the top-19 seeds and the host team advanced straight to the Final Site, while 24 teams competed in the NAIA Opening Round to determine the other 12 Final Site participants. The Final Site used to consist of eight groups of four teams each, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the round of 16.
With the planned changes, the overall national championship field now has been increased from 44 to 48 teams, but the number of teams at the Final Site has been reduced from 32 to 24. All 48 teams will play NAIA Opening Round matches, with the 24 winners advancing to the Final Site. There will still be eight pools at the Final Site, but now with three teams in each. Teams will need to win their group to advance to the quarterfinals.
This change eliminates the round of 16 completely and will avoid matches being played early in the morning and late at night throughout the tournament. A primary benefit is having the semifinal and final matches taking place on different days, unlike in previous years.
Changes were also announced for the women's swimming and diving national championships. Qualifying times will be lowered in an effort to reduce competition to 300 swimmers and 16 divers overall.
These changes are in addition to the ones the NAIA previously announced regarding men's and women's basketball. Beginning with the 2020-21 season, NAIA Divisions I and II will be combined in basketball and the NAIA National Tournament field will increase from 32 to 64 teams. Sixteen teams will host Opening Rounds of four teams each, with the winners then advancing to the Final Site, which will consist of 16 teams (down from 32).
Additionally, Opening Round groupings for Westmont sports including soccer, basketball and baseball will see teams that automatically qualified through their conference placed at a site within their region, limiting travel costs.
Higgins said immediate matchups between teams from the same conference will be avoided. The NAIA selection committee will do its best to prevent two teams from the same conference playing at the same Opening Round site, when possible. The placement of automatic qualifiers at a site within their region does not apply to at-large selections.
The NAIA also announced a reduction in the minimum and maximum number of competitions played (non-conference and conference) for fall sports teams to be eligible for the postseason in 2020.
For soccer, the new minimum number of matches to be played in 2020 is eight and the new maximum is 14. The new minimum number of matches for volleyball teams to play this year is 13, while the maximum is 22. In cross country, teams are required to compete in a minimum of four races and a maximum of seven.
On June 4, the NAIA pushed back the start date for fall sports. Practices are allowed to begin on August 15, while games can be played starting Sept. 5.
The NAIA is scheduled to announce additional fall sport guidelines in response to COVID-19 on Wednesday, July 1.
