I have a few problems with some of the ideas proposed:
We can't just have an all finals NCAA meet. While it would be GREAT for our TV audience, professional track and field is all about running rounds and being in good enough shape to run 2-3 races at your distance in superb fashion. Unless we expect to also change the IAAF qualification procedures, I do not see it best to change those for the NCAA. Many of these athletes will be trying to pursue a career in T&F and it is imperative that we try to prepare them to handle it on the global stage.
Qualifiers based solely on time/distance is a somewhat silly idea. This sport is about winning. Granted, winning usually means achieving a great time/distance, but if we are trying to appeal to the general public, they are going to love seeing the cinderalla story no-name win a regional or national 1500 with a superb kick, and so emphasis should be placed on being the best racer/performer in your event at the regional event.
the idea of separate individual and team championships is just unwise. winning in this overwhelmingly challenging sport is all about periodization and peaking, everyone knows this. this event would destroy the hopes and dreams of some athletes and teams alike, because at the end of the day this is an individual sport. however, we can apply a team aspect...see below.
ok so here's an idea:
-there are 31 conferences right? so have 6 "regional" meets with 5 conferences per region, distributed relatively fairly( 6 in one conference, not a big deal) according to geographic location.
-qualifiers for the regional meet consist of the top 3 per conference in each event and then top 9 times/distances (6 in the "larger" region, sorry guys) for a total of 24 athletes per event
-maintain a 2 day prelims/finals system like many high school state meets. this is not a problem in drawing public attention, there is generally a HUGE pull for the Penn relays and that is, what, 4 days?
-to qualify for nationals, you must place in the top 2 in your event and then there are only 4 time/distance qualifiers nationally, for a total of 16 athletes qualifying individually per event at nationals. this places a MASSIVE emphasis on being able to WIN your event at the right time and showing the goods at the right time of the year, even more so than the current system.
-to handle the team dispute, have a standard team championship scoring system at each region, and only the winner in each region will qualify for nationals. Thus, 6 total "teams" at nationals who can submit 2 athletes per event (however only a total of 3 if they already have 2 time qualifiers, so only 1 in this case). this keeps the amount of athletes in each event at nationals under 28 and most likely close to 24 or even lower. this means only 4 heats MAX in any event, so have a standard prelim/semi/final in the sprint events and prelim/final in distance and field events
-this does NOT mean that only these 6 teams can win the team title however, let's say an SEC school sends a QUALITY sprint team out to nationals but did not qualify an entire team. if they still have the individuals to get the job done at nationals, they are certainly deserving of the team title, so every school will be scored at nationals
I realize this is a lot to take in and most likely has some flaws, so I'd appreciate some input.