GREEN LAKE — Prep basketball teams in the expanding Big Eight Conference will gain some scheduling flexibility beginning in the 2009-10 season under a measure passed Thursday by the WIAA Board of Control.

The board voted unanimously to increase to 22 the number of regular-season games a team can play as long as all of them are played in Wisconsin or in bordering states.

Teams that travel beyond bordering states for competition will be restricted to the current 20-game maximum under the change passed during the board's summer meeting at the Heidel House Resort.

It will be a welcome change for Big Eight schools, which will be limited to two non-conference games this season as Verona joins the conference as a 10th member to create an 18-game conference schedule.

But WIAA executive director Doug Chickering has lobbied for the additional games — played in or adjacent to Wisconsin — to encourage more creative scheduling.

"I made this recommendation at our annual meeting about two or three years ago," Chickering said. "That we ought to have some additional games — in state — so we can have more games between our public and our private schools and more games between our urban and our rural schools so we can remove some barriers I think exist. I hope that's an outcome of this."

The board had a lengthy discussion about the number of games that should be played at the state tournament level after denying a motion to add four teams to Divisions 2, 3 and 4 and create the same eight-team field as in Division 1.

The discussion followed a financial report that showed a decline in revenue from the boys and girls basketball tournaments.

"It's getting to be a concern," Board member Roger Foegen of Bangor said. "And basketball is one of our biggest sports in terms of running this organization."

Chickering said there were a number of challenges to expanding the state tournament format by 12 games.

They included the potential of additional days — if the Kohl Center were available, which he said "is not realistic" — or playing state quarterfinal games in the smaller divisions at alternate sites with the understanding they wouldn't be televised live.

"To have a state basketball tournament in anything but the Kohl (Center) with somebody having to move is going to make those people who have to be moved feel like second-class citizens," Chickering said, realizing the energy for change comes from coaches at smaller public schools who feel their path to state has been blocked by private schools from larger areas. "My perception is the general public would not be satisfied (with those concessions)."

Board members directed the WIAA staff to prepare a cost analysis for what is often referred to as the "8-8-8-8 format."

WIAA staffers indicated it's likely other four-division sports would ask for expanded state tournament fields if the board increases the number of state-bound teams in basketball and those sports do not generate as much revenue as basketball.

"We've seen the four divisions that started with basketball and volleyball go to baseball, go to softball," Chickering said. "At the same time, we've had additional qualifiers in cross country, individual wrestling (and other sports)."

Meanwhile, the board denied a sportsmanship committee recommendation to ban bare-chested fans from any indoor regular season or WIAA tournament event.

The proposal gained considerable criticism from those who felt it squelched school spirit.

"That was something that I absolutely never favored; it was a committee recommendation that somehow got picked up and ran with it," said Chickering, who applauded the board for recognizing such a rule should be developed and enforced locally.

In other matters, the board:

• Pushed the softball season back one week beginning with the 2010 season, meaning first day of the state tournament would overlap with the final day of the state baseball tournament. It will still be held over the same three days as the state tournament in girls soccer, which received approval in January to start its season later. Both sports made the request after the WIAA extended the basketball season by one week so the state girls tournament could move from the Dane County Coliseum back to the Kohl Center beginning in 2010.

• Supported Chickering's recent executive decision to postpone implementation of a rule governing the number of athletes from the same school on a team out of season but during the school year. Numbers ranged from three players in basketball to six in soccer and raised concerns that such teams about to begin their seasons would be prevented from doing so. "The positive thing is we created an awareness," Chickering said, "and we will continue to work with the club sports (to determine appropriate) levels."