CliffsNotes: NCAA Tennis Committee Meeting, June 2022

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In late June, less than a month after the conclusion of the 2022 NCAA Tennis Championships in Champaign, Illinois, the NCAA Tennis Committee met for their annual meeting. The 12-person committee, joined by NCAA staff and guests from the ITA and USTA, discussed a variety of topics ranging from mundane administrative actions to dismantling the current team and individual format. I read the meeting notes (and between the lines), so you don’t have to! 

High-level takeaways on the meeting notes, consensus decision making, and TV
In general, the notes are heavy on formality and feel intentionally vague on more consequential topics. On one hand, you get detailed information on the updated referee pay scale, but on the other hand, no viewership metrics from TennisONE, despite it being a topic on the agenda. Additionally, if you ever need synonyms for “group of people,” then look no further than how college tennis operates: committee, sub-committees, task forces, members…one takeaway from the meeting notes is that college tennis operates with a highly decentralized decision-making model.

Thankfully, TV coverage appears to be a priority. The committee explicitly says that growing the broadcast coverage, which it distinguishes from “streaming,” is a priority. This was echoed by the ITA and USTA – both of which reinforced the need for a TV broadcast agreement. The committee agreed to add broadcast requirements for future bids (2026-2030 bids will open this summer). 


The committee will vote in August on moving the NCAA individual tournament to November

The most consequential topic of the meeting is the current discussion around bifurcating the team and individual championships by moving the individual tournament to the fall. A year ago, the USTA and ITA presented a joint proposal to the committee on moving the individual tournament to November. That proposal has been refined over the last year by an ITA task force (although, there are no specifics on the proposal in the meeting notes), and now, the ITA will send out a survey to coaches in July that will inform the committee’s final vote in August. 


You can imagine a scenario where the current ITA fall events (e.g. All-Americans, Regional Championships) serve as qualifying events into the NCAA individual championships which would serve as the fall season's grand finale.


Matches played after conference tournaments won’t count towards selection criteria

Trying to game the 0.500 rule or get one last ranked win to make the tournament? Not so fast! While the committee won’t prevent schools from scheduling matches after the regular season, they don’t want those matches to count towards the selection criteria (i.e. ITA ranking).


Moving to prioritize bracket integrity over geographic proximity

The current bracket policies prioritize geographic proximity over bracket integrity, which results in cases where, like this year, #17 Arizona State faced #2 Oklahoma in the Round of 32. One of the major complaints about the 2022 draw was the lack of bracket integrity – it’s clear the committee received that feedback. There was no specific action from this discussion, but there’s currently a pilot for two fall sports that prioritizes bracket integrity for the top 50% of the bracket, and the committee is interested in being included in any bracket modifications that come from that pilot. 


What other changes can you expect in 2023 and beyond?

  • Potentially expanding to 32 seeds and 16 seeds in the singles and doubles tournaments, respectively. 

  • A better student-athlete banquet experience. The banquets, despite being required, are sparsely attended, so you can expect to see things like awards presented in 2023.

  • Super-regional format is here to stay…for now.  The committee has received mixed feedback and is punting a decision for now, but did decide that the Super Regional round will count towards the selection of the all-tournament team in 2023. 

  • 2023 format has a scheduled rain delay day which, if successful, could continue moving forward

  • Better streaming in the early rounds. All hosts will be asked about recent court resurfacing and live video capabilities with score overlay (yay!)

  • Expanding beyond weather.com. In the funniest moment of the notes, you’ll be excited to hear that the NCAA and hosts will use all available resources, “not just weather.com,” to make inclement weather decisions.

  • Bad scheduling. For whatever reason, the committee wants to keep “paired matches as close to each other as possible.” I’ve interpreted this to mean that they’ll stick with the 2022 format of playing the QFs at simultaneous time slots, which is horrible for fans and broadcasting.


That’s all, folks! Overall, I’m buoyed by the consistent mention of TV’s importance in all aspects of the discussion. As of today, I’m not sold on moving individuals to the fall (and, actually, quite surprised to hear that the ITA and USTA recommended it), although, I’m curious to see the formal proposal. If you’ve seen it, my DMs are always open!


As always, let me know your thoughts, comments, and feedback @JTweetsTennis.

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