It was announced this spring that the NAIA would change its basketball offering from a two division format to a single division beginning in with the 2020-2021 academic year.
One of the things that was left up in the air at that time, is what kind of format would they use for the Championships. On Friday, that question was answered.
The National Administrative Council has given approval that men’s and women’s postseason tournaments will include 64 qualifiers each. A final site will host a 16 team tournament for each gender. Opening rounds will consist of 4-teams at sixteen different sites.
The NAC determined that the 64/16 format “will offer the a superior student-athlete experience as well as provide the best opportunity for cost saving and team travel reimbursement.”
Overall there will be the same number of qualifiers as we had under the old 32 team two division format.
There was some thought that they would stick with the 32 team format, all at one site, despite dropping down to the single division.
One thing that has not been finalized is who will get to serve has host for the Championships. One theory is that since we are now only looking at a 16 team Championship, that Kansas City could possibly host both the men and the women.
Its just my opinion, but that would surprise me. I, look for the men to head to Kansas City while the women go to Sioux City. I actually have nothing to base that on, other than my perceptions. We will see how things develop.
