March Madness USA

The committee is sequestered in a hotel during the selection process, not unlike a jury for an important court case. This committee must weigh the evidence provided to them though certain criteria. During the selection process, each member must submit a list of teams that should, without a doubt, be in the tournament. This list cannot include the school that the member represents. If eight members put a team on their list, that team is put into the field of tournament teams.

Here are some of the criteria used by the selection committees:

• Rating Percentage Index (RPI)
• Ranking in national polls
• Conference record
• Road record
• Wins versus ranked opponents
• How a team finishes the regular season

There are 31 teams that get an automatic invite to the tournament, which is their reward for winning their respective conferences. Thirty of these teams win their tournament through conference tournaments. The Ivy League does not hold a tournament.

The remaining invites, 34 for men and 33 for women, are left in the hands of the selection committee. Of the teams left in the pool, there are certain teams that are assured a spot in the tournament, teams that don’t make the cut, and then there is a third group of teams, called “bubble” teams, that could go either way.