NCAA Tournament Bracket Formats Explained
The NCAA basketball tournament, a hallmark of collegiate athletics, features various bracket formats. These structures determine how teams compete for the national championship each year, notably spotlighting the selection criteria emphasized by the NCAA and the insights of ESPN’s bracketologist, Joe Lunardi.
The Standard 68-Team Bracket
Since 2011, the NCAA tournament has adopted a 68-team bracket, which serves as the conventional format. This year’s adjustments reflect a unique set of circumstances:
- The entirety of the tournament is hosted at a single location, obviating geographical seeding considerations.
- There is a reduction in automatic qualifiers (AQ), notably with the Ivy League opting out of the 2020-21 season, limiting AQ entries to 31.
Alternative 48-Team Bracket
In the event of a condensed selection process, a proposed 48-team bracket would see a reduction of 10 at-large teams along with another 10 automatic qualifiers. Key features include:
- The top four seeds in each region receiving byes into the second round.
- First-round matchups featuring 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, and 8 vs. 9 games played at the higher seed’s home court, without fan attendance.
- Seeding determined primarily by geographic considerations to minimize travel for participating teams.
- A requirement for all teams to have a minimum .500 conference record, known informally as the “Lunardi Rule,” for at-large consideration.
16-Team Bracket Overview
In a more simplified format, the 16-team bracket positions itself as a direct selection of the best available teams, disregarding automatic qualifiers. Essential points are:
- No automatic qualifiers in this format; however, non-competing conference champions still receive revenue units.
- To promote balance across conferences, participation is limited to four teams per conference, ensuring diversity in representation.
- Regions are structured to include no more than one team from the same conference.
For a deeper understanding of the criteria employed for NCAA selections, the NCAA’s website provides comprehensive guidelines on the matter: NCAA Selection Criteria.