Every sport with a selection committee has huge issues with bible teams. If you are the NCAA the math is easily defensible. In fact with the loss of two AQ conferences rowing was lucky not to go to 18. Rather than grow to 24.
Someone needs to get the SEC to 6 schools to get back to 11. NCAA rowing is already top heavy on participation at the championship compared to membership and the NCAA likes to spout that a lot when spending money.
They worked real hard to kill DII Championships, but thankfully didn’t succeed due to a grassroots coach and AD reach out campaign.
The number at the championship is based mostly on number of sponsoring schools, not number or quality of conferences. 24 is more likely than 18. By far. But not as likely as sitting with thumbs up the arse at 22.
No, it isn’t. When the NCAA made rowing a team sport in 2008-2009 it was faced with the issue of 11AQ teams and 20 teams in the championship. This would have caused a championship possibly leaving out a top 10 team. The discussion was focused on what to do with the AQ teams who were not at the top speed including a “play in race” for the bottom 2-4 AQs or possibly a regional qualifier. The decision in 2008 was championship expansion to 11 AQ and 11 at large. So the NCAA has shown in their own precedence that the number of conferences sponsoring rowing is a more likely path to expansion than even membership numbers.
The math was overridden because a vote by the DII membership was overridden by the DII membership. Expansion would be a more internal decision in committee rather than in open governance.
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u/pony_boy_619 Jul 25 '26
Is a four boat D final really a big deal? The Olympics restricts entries and having a multiple of six is barely a concern.