The Division II Executive Board this week approved the expansion of the Division II Football Championship bracket from 28 to 32 teams, starting this year.
The board also authorized more than $2.5 million in budget requests for the 2025-26 fiscal year, including $545,000 to expand the bracket.
Other notable budget approvals, which were recommended by the Division II Strategic Planning and Finance Committee, included the following:
- Increasing the championships per diem by $15 to $150 per day (nearly $1.13 million).
- Supporting inflationary costs for various Division II initiatives (approximately $187,000).
- Making a planned 3% increase to the Conference Sports Sponsorship Fund (approximately $183,000) and Institutional Equal Distribution Fund (approximately $63,000) distributions.
"These budget decisions reflect our continued investment in what matters most — the student-athlete experience," said Colleen Perry Keith, president at Goldey-Beacom and chair of the Division II Executive Board. "From expanded championship opportunities to improved support through per diem increases, we're committed to enhancing the Division II experience for all student-athletes."
Football bracket expansion
The recommendation to expand the football bracket stemmed from two key actions at the 2025 NCAA Convention. First, the Division II Executive Board approved new exceptions to the triennial budget process that allow bracket changes when championship policies change. Second, Division II members voted to make football an automatic qualification sport, replacing the earned-access model.
According to the Division II championship policy, bracket expansion must be considered when automatic qualifiers make up more than 50% of the field. With 16 conferences eligible for automatic qualification in 2025, 57% of the current 28-team bracket would be composed of automatic qualifiers. To accommodate this shift, the bracket needed to expand to 32 teams. There will be no change to the championship date formula. However, the four No. 1 seeds will no longer receive byes under this new format.
Election and new member
The board ratified the election of Jennifer Bell, director of athletics at Converse, to the Division II Management Council. Bell will serve as the Conference Carolinas representative.
The board also welcomed its new independent member, Edward Hjerpe III. A former Division II basketball student-athlete at Saint Anselm, Hjerpe served as the president and CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston for 12 years and is now retired. Since the Division II Executive Board was restructured from the previous Presidents Council in 2023, two independent members have served on the division's top governance committee.
Make It Yours campaign
The board reviewed the results of a targeted Division II marketing campaign that was executed from January to March on social media and streaming services. The Division II Management Council also received this update at its meeting last week.
Overall, the campaign delivered more than 57.4 million impressions, 5.4 million views and 874,000 engagements across all platforms. A temporary Division II Difference landing page built for the campaign saw nearly 40,000 visitors during the campaign and was the fifth most viewed page on ncaa.org during that time. The activation included a 45-second public service announcement that was edited into smaller versions, including two 30-second versions that Division II members could play in their webcasts.
