The main issue right now is that there is so few recruits out there that at the D3 level, you basically are "creating" athletes (either from single sport or simply non-athlete turned triathlete), and so they may or may not even have that drive or understanding of the championship picture. And that is the biggest hurdle to overcome, having a carrot of nationals or not may not even matter; it's still a roster management issue for many schools.

Maybe for the top D3 programs will start to be affected due to likely missing out on recruiting for "national championships", but the other 75% of the D3 schools, competing at nationals or not isn't even a recruiting point of view honestly (and I say that as a coach at a D3 that is one of the struggling programs).


ETA: But to look at it from another angle. When you become a ncaa championship sponsored sport, you now look more appealing to AD's and college presidents. So I don't necessarily think the sport could be stuck in the "1 all divisons national championship" for the next 30 years. I think it would actually accelerate more schools to picking up tri, which then would almost assuredly cause 2 national title events.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II