Ever wished your school could appeal its non-selection to the Big Dance?
That’s what NAIA school Oklahoma Christian University did — and it won. It was successful in its appeal of the selection process for the 2006 NAIA women’s championships and was granted a berth in the national tournament after first being overlooked in favor of Bethel of Tennessee.
The national tournament selection committee was found to have erred in its application of one of the criteria approved for the selection of at-large qualifiers. While Bethel had the edge in the TPI (Total Point Index) used for at-large berths, the teams were so close that it triggered a secondary set of criteria. One of the criteria was applied improperly, favoring Bethel. On appeal, the NAIA’s Council of Athletics Administrators ruled the majority of the seven criteria should have favored Oklahoma Christian.
The NAIA tournaments begin on Wednesday — the men in Daytona Beach, Fla., and the women in Olathe, Kan.