The Salem Civic Center has hosted the Division III men's basketball national semifinals every year since 1996.

The Salem Civic Center and Calvin's Van Noord Arena are each on a list of finalists to host Division III men's basketball Final Fours during a span from 2014-15 to 2017-18. Salem is on a list of finalists for the women's basketball Final Fours in that span as well.

What that means, however, in an era in which the championship game might not be played at the Division III site, is fairly nebulous.

First off, here's the list. After that, we'll try to determine what it means.

Men's basketball:
Salem Civic Center (Salem, Va.)
Van Noord Arena (Calvin College campus)

Women's basketball:
Banker's Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Van Noord Arena 
Salem Civic Center 
Mayo Civic Center (Rochester, Minn.)

Since the NCAA release covers a span of five seasons, both of these facilities could end up hosting Final Fours in this stretch. Or hosting whatever is left of the Division III Final Four if the title game gets sent on the road with Division I and Division II. 

The 2013 experiment of playing in Atlanta with the big-money games was generally viewed as a success. Doing that on a long-term basis would require Division III adjusting its season to fall more in line with the Division I tournament, however, so that there aren't so many days off between the semifinals and championship game. That could happen, but no sooner than 2015.

For women's basketball, the 2014 Final Four is at UW-Stevens Point, and UWSP's absence from this list is either an oversight or an admission that this will be for one year only. The Division I women's basketball Final Four is in Indianapolis in 2016, and Banker's Life Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers, is on this list to cover for that eventuality. 

Van Noord Arena is huge for a Division III women's Final Four, with at least a thousand more seats than any Division III women's title game has ever needed. Mayo Civic Center has hosted the Division II women's Final Four in the past, although Rochester, Minn., is a little out of the way for most Division III schools. And the Salem Civic Center would likely be too big for a women's Final Four.

But it would not be too big for a combined Final Four. That is something that continues to be brought up in discussions. Would it be possible? At the very least, this list covers for that.

Curiously absent from the list of women's Final Four finalists: on-campus sites. Is this championship ready to take a giant leap forward from a 2,000-seat or 3,000-seat venue (at Hope, where it has not filled the seats) to a 5,000-seat arena, let alone a 7,200-seat venue such as the Mayo Civic Center?

Probably not. It could be an interesting five years for the Division III women's basketball championships.