There are three phases in the process:

I. Select the at-large teams (a minimum of 33 teams);
II. Seed the teams; and
III. Place the teams into the championship bracket.

 

General Principles for Selection, Seeding and Bracketing

The women’s basketball committee will abide by the following principles:

1. At no point in the process shall a member vote for a team that the individual represents as an institutional or conference administrator.
2. A member shall not be present in the meeting room during committee discussion regarding the selection or seeding of a team the individual represents. Nor may an individual answer questions about the team the individual represents, except for factual questions (e.g., dates of injuries, status of injured players).
3. A conference administrator is permitted to answer general questions about teams in the conference the individual represents; however, this committee member must leave the room during any discussion regarding the selection or seeding of teams the individual represents.
4. An athletics administrator is permitted to discuss other teams in the individual’s conference only when asked.
5. At any time during the process of selecting the at-large teams, the committee may elect to begin seeding the teams. This will permit the committee to move ahead and still consider the results of games played during selection weekend.
6. At any time during the process, the chair may designate a “quiet period”, generally 15 minutes in length, to permit members to individually reflect on the way they will vote. These periods may be (a) prior to finalizing the vote on teams eligible for the last remaining at-large positions; (b) prior to the start of the seeding process, and (c) prior to the start of the bracketing process.
7. All votes will be by secret ballot.
8. At any time during the process, the chair may request a "nitty-gritty" report, which compares teams that are under consideration. The elements of the "nitty-gritty" report are:

I. Principles for Selecting At-Large Teams

1. The committee shall select the best available teams to fill the at-large berths, regardless of conference affiliation.
2. There is no limit on the number of teams the committee may select from one conference.

Procedures for Selecting At-Large Teams
1. At the beginning of the March meeting, each committee member will submit a list of 64 institutions in alphabetical order that the individual believes should be considered for selection (including those that may subsequently be an automatic qualifier).
2. Any team receiving all but one of the eligible votes shall be moved onto the at-large board.
3. The committee will form an "at-large nomination board" consisting of an alphabetical listing of all teams that:

4. After Step No. 3, the process for creating the initial "at-large nomination board" will be closed.
5. Once the "at-large nomination board" is closed, a team may be added to the nomination board at any time providing it receives more than two votes. A team may be removed from the nomination board if it receives all but two of the eligible votes. Oral nominations are permitted.

1. The committee will begin evaluating those teams on the at-large nomination board.
2. Each committee member will submit a list of eight teams, not ranked in order, from the at-large nomination board.
3. Committee members rank the top eight vote-getters from Step No. 2, using a cross-country scoring system (e.g., first is valued at one point).
4. The four teams receiving the least amount of points shall be added to the at-large field. The other four teams will be held for the next ballot.
5. Each committee member next will submit a listing of eight teams to be considered in the next at-large ballot. Those teams receiving the most votes will be included with the remaining teams from Step No. 2 to provide a pool of eight teams for the next at-large ballot.
6. Steps No. 3, 4 and 5 will be repeated until all at-large berths are filled.
7. If a team fails to be included among the four teams receiving the least amount of points (Step No. 4) for two consecutive ballots, it shall be returned to the nomination board.
8. A team may be removed from an at-large berth by a vote of seven eligible voters. Such a team would be returned to the at-large nomination board.
9. At any time during the process, the chair may suggest that the committee begin considering teams that should be eliminated from consideration. The same voting procedures will be used.
10. At any time during the process, the chair may call for a cross-country vote of the teams under consideration.
11. The number of teams eligible to receive votes may be increased or decreased by the chair if circumstances warrant. Further, the chair has the option to revise from four to two the number of teams to be moved into at-large berths per Procedure No. 4.

 

1. The committee will seed (i.e. “rank”) the teams 1 through 64.
2. The “s-curve” is used as a reference to ensure balance.
3. Once the “s-curve” is completed, it remains unchanged throughout the committee’s deliberations in placing the teams into the championship bracket.
4. The bracket-placement principles adopted by the committee may preclude a team from being placed in its “true” seed (in accordance with the “s-curve”).

1. Each committee member will submit a list of eight teams, not ranked in order, from the automatic qualification and/or at-large boards.
2. Committee members rank the top eight vote-getters from Step No. 1, using a cross-country scoring system.
3. The four teams receiving the least amount of points from the cross-country scoring are moved onto the s-curve in order.
4. The remaining four teams are held for the next cross-country ballot.
5. Each committee member lists eight additional teams from the automatic qualification and/or at-large boards. The top four vote-getters will join the four remaining teams on the next cross-country ballot.
6. Committee members rank the eight teams from Steps No. 4 and No. 5, using a cross-country scoring system.
7. The four teams receiving the least amount of points are moved into the s-curve in order.
8. Steps No. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are repeated until all the teams are seeded, 1 through 64, for the s-curve.
9. After a team has been voted into the s-curve, it may be moved to a different position by a vote of seven or more eligible committee members.

The women’s committee is not obligated to seed the lines in chronological order. For example, any time during this process, the committee may use the procedures to determine the fourth quadrant of teams in the s-curve.

 

1. The top priority for the committee is to balance the bracket in each region across the country.
2. The committee will assign all four teams in each ‘group’ (seeds 1, 16, 8, 9), (4, 13, 5, 12), (2, 15, 7, 10), (3, 14, 6, 11) to the same first-/second-round site. There will be two ‘groups’ at each first-/second-round site. The first-/second-round sites that feed into a regional site may be in different geographic areas from the regional. Also, the two ‘groups’ at a first-/second-round site may feed into different regional sites. If a team’s institution is serving as a first- and second-round or regional host, the team will be assigned to its institution’s site.
3. Sixteen levels are established (i.e., the seeds, 1 through 16) in the bracket that transcend each of the four regions, permitting evaluation of four teams simultaneously on the same level.
4. Each region is divided into four sections with four levels in each, permitting the evaluation of four different sections within each region against the complementing sections in every other region.
5. All seeds on each line (No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, etc.) should be as equal as possible.
6. Teams shall be assigned as close to their natural region as possible.
7. If two teams from the same natural region are in contention for the same bracket position, the team ranked higher in the s-curve shall remain in its natural region.
8. Each of the first three teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions, unless precluded by host institution parameters.
9. No more than one team from a conference may be seeded in the same grouping of four (in line Nos. 1-4 and 13-16) in a region. (Note: The only possible exception would occur if a conference has five or more teams seeded in line Nos. 1-4. The other principles herein would apply in the exception case.)
10. In lines No. 5-12, two teams from the same conference may be placed in the same group of four providing that they would not meet until the regional final game.
11. Conference teams shall not meet each other prior to the regional final unless a ninth team is selected from a conference. Two teams from the same conference within the same region, therefore, shall not be seeded together in either of the following groups: Nos. 1, 16, 8, 9, 4, 13, 5, 12 or 2, 15, 7, 10, 3, 14, 6, 11).
12. There shall not be more than two teams from a conference in one region unless a ninth team is selected from a conference, unless precluded by host institution parameters.
13. A team may be moved one bracket line from its true seed line (e.g., from a No. 13 seed to a No. 12 seed) when it is placed in the bracket if necessary to meet the principles.

1. A team moved out of its natural area will be placed in the next closest region when possible.
2. If possible, rematches of regular-season games should be avoided in the first and second rounds.
3. If possible, rematches of previous years’ tournament games should be avoided in the first and second rounds.
4. The committee will examine the previous three tournament brackets to determine the number of times a particular team or conference has been moved out of its natural region. The committee shall attempt to avoid moving a team or conference out of its natural region or geographic area an inordinate number of times.

1. Place the teams seeded 1 through 4 in each of the four regions pairing the top seed’s region against the fourth seed’s region and the second seed’s region against the third seed’s region.
2. Place the No. 2 seeds in each region.
3. Place the No. 3 seeds in each region.
4. Place the No. 4 seeds in each region.
5. After each group of four teams is determined, check for conflicts with the principles for placing the teams into the bracket.
6. After the top four lines have been assigned, determine the relative strengths of the regions by adding the true seed numbers in each region to determine if any severe numerical imbalance has been created.
7. After the committee has placed teams in each region, the committee will assign those teams (and, subsequently, the other teams in their groups) to first-/second-round sites. The committee will attempt to assign each to the most geographically compatible first-/second-round site, proceeding in order of the s-curve. When multiple teams are a similar distance from a site, the team with the higher s-curve ranking will be assigned to the site.
8. Place seeds No. 13, 14, 15 and 16 in the bracket per the principles.
9. Repeat steps No. 5, 6 and 7.
10. The committee will assign teams placed on lines 5-12 a bracket line number (i.e., five through twelve) rather than using the seed number. All teams on a given line, therefore, will have the same numerical value. The committee will evaluate each region to ensure that no region includes all of the highest or lowest seeds from the s-curve on each line within a region's group of four. Generally, no more than five points should separate the lowest and highest total.
11. Place seeds No. 5, 6, 7 and 8 in the bracket per the principles.
12. Repeat Steps No. 5, 7 and 10.
13. Place seeds No. 9, 10, 11 and 12 in the bracket per the principles.
14. Repeat Steps No. 5, 7 and 10.
15. Review the groups of four to ensure adherence to the principles for seeding.
16. Review the principles (Section III) for placing teams in the championship bracket.

 

Rating Percentage Index (RPI)

The Rating Percentage Index (RPI) was created in 1981 and the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee began using the RPI in 1984 to provide supplemental data in its evaluation of teams for at-large selection and seeding of the championship bracket.

The RPI is intended to be used as one of many resources used by the committee in the selection, seeding and bracketing process. It never should be considered anything but an additional evaluation tool. No computer program that is based on pure numbers can take into account subjective concepts, e.g., how well a team is playing down the