I found this on Twitter the other day about the selection process.
For all of you bracketologists out there, here are some principles and procedures, and other little nuggets, to remember as you try and predict what the committee will do (or display what you would do if you were in charge).
First, remember the committee has expanded from 10 to 12 members. So when the initial ballot is cast Wednesday, this is how we create our "boards," though to be clear there are no actual boards in the room. Years ago, there were boards and schools were placed on them using Velcro
Any team receiving all but 3 eligible votes as an at-large team is moved into the tournament field as an at-large selection. That's 9 of 12 votes for most teams but UCLA, for example, needs 8 of 11 because their AD (
@MartinJarmond) is on the committee and can't vote for UCLA.
The "under consideration” board consists of teams that received at least 4 votes as at-large or under consideration (but did not receive enough votes to be an at-large team), or won the regular-season conference championship (1 seeds in their tournaments when there is a tie).
Then the committee spends the next few days going back and forth between selecting teams from under consideration and moving them into the field, and seeding those teams into the field. At various points, they will scrub the seed list, comparing teams next to each other.
On Sunday (and never sooner, and only after the seed list has been finalized 1-68), the bracketing process starts. There are contingencies in place based on outcomes of Sunday's games. Those might determine who's a 1 seed, or maybe any other seed or even who gets in the field.
Some important bracketing principles: 1. Teams from the same league that are seeded 1-4 automatically go in separate regions. In other words, if Gonzaga is a 1 seed, BYU is a 2, San Francisco is a 3 and St. Mary's is a 4, they all go in separate regions.
2. If teams from the same conference played 3 times during the season, they can't play until the Elite 8. If they played 2x, they can't play until the Sweet 16. If they played once, they can't play until the 2nd round. These counts include conference tournament games.
3. Any principle can be relaxed if two or more teams from the same conference are among the last four at-large seeded teams participating in the First Four.
4. A team will not be permitted to play in any facility in which it has played more than three games during its season, not including exhibitions and conference postseason tournaments.
5. A host institution’s team shall not be permitted to play at the site where the institution is hosting. If Duquesne makes the tournament, they can't be sent to Pittsburgh because they are hosting. It's OK if a conference is the host (Pac-12 teams can play in San Francisco).
6. The best of the two seeds (the overall No. 5 team on the seed list) can’t be assigned to the same region as the overall No. 1 seed. Only the overall No. 1 gets its wish granted when it submitted their preferred first and second-round site and its preferred regional site.
For a full list of the selection, seeding and bracket principles and procedures, go here:
ncaa.com/_flysystem/pub…. Enjoy the Madness, everyone.
www.ncaa.com
