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WIAA to expand basketball season

The new Big Eight, which becomes a 10-school conference this fall, won’t be as locked in for basketball as some people had feared.

The WIAA Board of Control has approved a plan that, beginning in 2009-10, will expand the regular season for boys and girls from 20 to 22 games, providing a member school plays all its games in Wisconsin or a bordering state.

That is particularly significant for the expanded Big Eight, which will have a double round-robin schedule with 18 conference games. Under the present restrictions, its members are limited to two nonconference games.

Under the new system, Big Eight schools could get four nonconference games. But any WIAA member extending its schedule beyond the bordering states will be limited to 20 games.

A motion to expand the state tournament to eight teams for Divisions 2, 3 and 4, making them the same as Division 1, has been denied by the board.

Meanwhile, the board has approved a recommendation requiring coaches to be present at basketball seed meetings, beginning in 2008-09. Failure to attend the meeting will result in the loss of the coach’s box for the first tournament game.

Also beginning in 2008-09, the WIAA will alter the method for determining the number of schools placed in basketball tournament divisions. The largest 116 schools will be in Division 1, with the next 116 largest in Division 2. Division 3 will include the next 128 schools, and the remaining schools will be in Division 4.

The WIAA board also has approved expansion of the hockey schedule. Beginning in 2009-10, schools can designate two of their 20 dates as multi-game events that will count as one contest against the maximum total permitted, provided no members of the team miss classes because of play or travel.