NCAA Division II
From Hoopedia
Division II (or DII, sometimes called, "D-two") is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It offers an alternative to both the highly competitive (and highly expensive) level of intercollegiate sports offered in NCAA Division I and the non-scholarship, less competitive level of competition offered in Division III.
Nationally, CBS televises the men's basketball championship.
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Membership
Division II schools tend to be smaller public universities and many private institutions. Athletic scholarships are offered in most sponsored sports at most institutions, but with more stringent limits as to the numbers offered in any one sport than at the Division I level. Division II scholarship programs are frequently the recipients of student-athletes transferring from Division I schools; a transfer student does not have to sit out a year before resuming sports participation as would be the case in the event of transferring from one Division I institution to another.
Conferences
Twenty-three conferences participate in the NCAA's Division II program. For details, go to NCAA Division II Conferences.
Schools (by state)
Almost 300 colleges and universities in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participate in NCAA Division II basketball. For a list of participating schools, see NCAA Division II Schools.
Interaction with other divisions
The NCAA does not strictly prevent its member institutions from playing outside of their own division, or indeed playing against schools that are not members of the NCAA. Division II schools often compete against Division I, Division III or even the NAIA
NAIA
Many Division II schools frequently schedule matches against members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, which specializes primarily in smaller institutions and is something of a rival collegiate sports sanctioning authority to the NCAA.
Division I
Division II schools also frequently schedule "money games", usually men's basketball games, against Division I schools, particularly lesser-known ones, early in the season in which they are almost invariably the visiting team and are invited to play with the almost-certain knowledge that they will be defeated but will receive a substantial (at least by Division II standards) monetary reward which will help to finance much of the rest of the season and perhaps other sports as well.
Pressure to move to Division I or III
The viability of Division II as an ongoing operation in the medium-to-long term is frequently called into question; it is noted that these institutions' athletics programs share many of the major expenses of their Division I counterparts with regard especially to scholarships, facilities upkeep, and travel while receiving for the most part far smaller gate receipts and almost no television revenue. An increasing number of Division II schools are under pressure from administrators, boosters, and other interested parties either to "step up" to Division I or down to Division III; as a result, the NCAA has adopted rules which tend to make it harder for new institutions to join Division I, such as minimum attendance requirements for football and a long waiting period (now eight years) before a new Division I institution can participate in the NCAA Division I Men's Tournament ("March Madness") or share in its considerable revenues.
