November 10, 2001 -- Indianapolis, IN . . . At the DCI division II/III fall board meeting, the directors of DCI's division II and III units voted 19-2 to adopt a new three-stage competition format for their championship week events that is similar to the quarterfinals/semifinals/finals format that the division I corps use.
Monday: Division II/III Prelims
Starting in the 2002 season, all division II and III groups will compete in Monday's prelims, with 17 units advancing to a semifinal contest on Tuesday and 12 corps to appear at Wednesday night's finals.
Tuesday: Division II/III SemifinalsLike in past years, the top five division II and top seven division III units will advance from Monday's prelims, only now they will be joined by the next five highest-scoring units from the prelims regardless of division.
Wednesday: Division II/III Finals
The makeup of finals will change somewhat, as the top three units from each division and the next six highest-scoring groups from semifinals will earn berths in the Wednesday event. The new format will provide more performance opportunities for division II and III competitors that have been returning home from recent years' championships after giving just one performance. Roughly half of the anticipated field of division II/III entrants will advance in future years, with many of them performing a third time by qualifying for the finals.
More division II performances?
This is particularly welcome news for division II units, for whom the five-unit finals cut of past seasons was a source of frustration. Now, potentially as many as ten division II corps could see further action after prelims, of which nine could conceivably make the finals.
Meanwhile, division III is still assured of seven advancing groups from prelims, and their title will still be up for grabs on Wednesday night among the top three (or more) of that division.
The direct comparison of scores between units from different divisions in future DCI Championships will require a single judging panel to handle the entire Monday prelims, currently forecasted to involve 34 units. (38 corps entered the two 2001 prelims events.) It was also recognized that seeding for appearance times should be changed to mix the divisions. The tournament process for determining those time slots was discussed, then tabled for later voting at the February board meeting.
