How to Understand March Madness Team Qualification Rules

Every year the March madness tournament tips off a nationwide furor of office pools and television watching. The NCAA tournament however is not open to all teams. There are two means of qualification for March madness tournaments; one is an automatic qualifier and the other is the at-large qualifier.

Instructions

    • 1

      Know that each team that wins their conference tournament receives an automatic bid. Each conference holds an annual tournament at the end of the conference regular season and the winner of that tournament receives an automatic bid. These teams represent thirty-one of the sixty-five teams in the tournament.

    • 2

      Realize that a committee of people appointed by the NCAA then selects the remaining thirty-four teams. This committee consists mainly of current members of the NCAA and college teams' administration.

    • 3

      Understand that an initial vote is taken by the committee to rank the thirty-four teams they consider worthy of an at-large bid. This vote occurs before all the automatic qualifiers are determined. Any team that receives all but two or less of the eligible votes will automatically qualify as an at-large team.

    • 4

      Recognize that the selection committee then meets at a predetermined location on the weekend of "Selection Sunday". During this weekend, the committee watches all the conference tournaments and conducts meetings about the selection process.

    • 5

      Comprehend that the committee then votes on the teams after they have selected the initial at-large qualifiers and the automatic bids have been determined. Many factors are present when determining these last at-large teams. Some of the factors are strength of schedule, regular season records, and the last ten games played. the vote is repeated until a consensus in formed on which teams should be in the March madness tournament.

    • 6

      Be aware that on "Selection Sunday" the field of sixty-five teams is announced.