History of NCAA basketball tournament selection process in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: March 21, 2024

NCAA basketball tournament selection process

The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments use a selection process to determine the participating teams, their seedings, and matchups. 32 teams automatically qualify by winning their conference championships, while the remaining teams rely on at-large bids from the selection committee. The selection process occurs on Selection Sunday and the preceding days. On Selection Sunday, the men's brackets and seeds are revealed. Since 2022, the women's brackets and seeds are also announced on Selection Sunday, unlike the previous practice of announcing them on Selection Monday before the tournament expanded to 68 teams from 64.

1985: Regional Terminology Shift

In 1985, the NCAA changed the regional name from "Mideast" to "Southeast." This shift reflected a change in geographical designations within the tournament structure.

1991: CBS Gains Exclusive Rights to Men's Tournament

CBS secured exclusive television rights to the men's NCAA tournament in 1991, marking the beginning of their dominance in broadcasting the event. This gave them significant control over the selection show and tournament coverage.

1998: Southeast Regional Renamed to South Regional

Continuing the evolution of regional names, the "Southeast" regional was renamed to the "South Regional" in 1998. This further solidified the geographical distinction of the regions within the tournament.

2002: Introduction of "Pod" System

The NCAA implemented the "pod" system prior to the 2002 tournament. This system aimed to reduce travel burdens for teams, particularly in the early rounds, by grouping games in clusters located in different regions across the country.

2002: Pitt Panthers Play in Pittsburgh

The Pitt Panthers played their first and second round NCAA tournament games in 2002 at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, providing a home city advantage even though the arena was not their official home court after the opening of their on-campus arena.

2003: BYU's Sunday Play Conflict

The 2003 NCAA tournament selection committee faced a scheduling conflict when they placed BYU, a Latter-Day Saint school with a policy against Sunday play, in a region where they might have to play on a Sunday. The NCAA planned to adjust BYU's region if they advanced to the regional semifinals, but this became unnecessary as BYU did not progress that far.

February 14, 2004: Utah State Snubbed Despite Top 25 Ranking

Despite being ranked in the Top 25, Utah State was denied an at-large bid to the 2004 tournament after losing their conference tournament. This "snub" was attributed to factors like their weak non-conference schedule, including a loss to Pacific, who went on to secure the Big West Conference's automatic bid and progressed to the tournament's second round.

2004: Pittsburgh's Travel to Milwaukee for Early Rounds

In 2004, Pittsburgh, despite being an East Coast team, played their first two tournament games in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This decision was made to prioritize keeping a lower-seeded team, the Wisconsin Badgers, closer to their home campus, highlighting that geographical proximity for higher-seeded teams wasn't always guaranteed.

2004: Men's Regions Identified by City

Starting in 2004, the NCAA began identifying the men's tournament regions by the city hosting the regional semifinals and finals. This change marked a move away from solely geographical names and towards associating the regions with specific locations.

2005: Women's Regions Identified by City

Following the change in the men's tournament, the NCAA implemented the same city-based regional identification for the women's tournament in 2005, aligning both tournaments with this naming convention.

2005: Rule Change Allows Earlier Intraconference Matchups

Recognizing the potential for conferences to send numerous teams to the NCAA tournament, the NCAA changed its rules in 2005 to permit intraconference matchups as early as the second round. This decision was driven by the expansion of conferences like the Big East.

2005: Pod System and Geographical Spread

The 2005 Austin, Texas men's regional highlighted the NCAA's "pod" system, designed to minimize team travel, especially in early rounds. Despite regions being named for cities, games could take place in various locations, spreading the tournament geographically. In this instance, the Austin regional included games in Indianapolis, Indiana; Tucson, Arizona; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Worcester, Massachusetts.

2006: Women's Selection Show Moves to Selection Monday

Departing from the tradition of announcing women's NCAA tournament matchups an hour before the men's, ESPN, holding exclusive rights to the women's tournament, started announcing the selections on Selection Monday, providing increased visibility and anticipation for the women's event.

2006: Villanova's Near-Homecourt Advantage

In 2006, Villanova played its first and second round NCAA tournament games in Philadelphia, a location very familiar to the team. Although the arena wasn't officially their home court, having played three games there instead of the required four, it still provided them with a significant advantage.

2006: Old Dominion Hosts as a 10th Seed

In the 2006 women's NCAA tournament, Old Dominion, despite being a 10th seed, hosted games in the first and potentially second rounds at their home court. This highlighted the rule that allows hosting teams to play at their home arena regardless of their seed in the women's tournament.

2006: Intraconference Matchups Allowed Earlier

Prior to 2006, intraconference NCAA tournament matchups were prohibited until the regional finals. However, a rule change in 2005 allowed for these matchups as early as the second round, in anticipation of conferences potentially sending more than eight teams to the tournament.

2007: Return to Geographic Designations for Men's Tournament

After a period of identifying regions by cities, the NCAA reverted to using East/South/Midwest/West designations for the men's tournament starting in 2007. This brought back the traditional geographical names while the women's tournament continued to use city-based regional identification.

2009: Kansas and West Virginia Travel to Minneapolis for Early Rounds

In 2009, higher-seeded teams Kansas and West Virginia had to travel to Minneapolis to play their opponents, North Dakota State and Dayton, despite those opponents being geographically closer to Minneapolis. This illustrated that travel convenience wasn't always aligned with seeding, occasionally putting higher-seeded teams at a travel disadvantage.

2010: End of CBS's Exclusive Rights

After nearly two decades of exclusive broadcasting rights, CBS's sole control over the men's NCAA tournament ended in 2010. This opened the door for shared rights with other networks, changing the landscape of tournament broadcasting.

2011: Region Names Reflect Regional Locations

In 2011, the NCAA adjusted the names of the Midwest and South regions to Southeast and Southwest respectively, reflecting the geographical locations of the regionals in New Orleans and San Antonio. This change aimed to better represent the actual locations of the regional games.

2011: Big East Sets Record with 11 Tournament Teams

The Big East conference set a record in 2011 by sending eleven teams to the NCAA tournament, underscoring the rising potential for conferences to have numerous representatives in the tournament.

2011: CBS Shares Rights with Turner Sports

Turner Sports joined CBS as a broadcast partner for the men's NCAA tournament in 2011, ending CBS's era of exclusive rights. This partnership broadened the reach of the tournament and introduced new perspectives to the coverage.

2012: Reversion to Previous Region Names

After using regional locations to inform region names in 2011, the NCAA reverted to the traditional region names (Midwest and South) for the 2012 tournament.

2012: Big East Sends Nine Teams to Tournament

Following their record-breaking 11 teams in 2011, the Big East continued to demonstrate its strength by sending nine teams to the 2012 NCAA tournament, highlighting the increasing prevalence of conferences securing multiple tournament berths.

2012: BYU and Iona Receive Unusually Low Seeds

In a rare occurrence, BYU and Iona were given #14 seeds in the 2012 NCAA tournament, highlighting the occasional deviation from the typical seeding norms.

2013: Boise State and La Salle Receive Unusually Low Seeds

Boise State and La Salle were placed as #13 seeds in the 2013 tournament, further demonstrating that while unusual, at-large bids could result in lower seeding than the typical #12 seed.

2013: Big East Splits, But Large Conference Representation Continues

Despite the Big East conference splitting in 2013, the trend of conferences sending numerous teams to the NCAA Tournament persisted as other leagues, such as the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC, expanded. This reinforced the need for rules allowing earlier intraconference matchups.

2014: South Carolina's Travel Controversy

Controversy arose in 2014 when #1 seed South Carolina was required to undertake two cross-country trips for the NCAA tournament. Many believed this was a penalty for a home game ban, forcing them to travel to Seattle and then Palo Alto where they were eliminated. This sparked debate about fairness in tournament scheduling.

2014: Exception to Conference Seeding Rules

In a slight deviation from the NCAA's conference seeding rules, 11th seed play-in team Tennessee was placed in the Midwest Region alongside 8th seed Kentucky, both from the same conference, in 2014. This was an exception to the general rule that the first three teams from a conference should be in different regions.

2015: First Four Out Policy for Men's NIT

Beginning in 2015, the "First Four Out" teams in the men's tournament were granted top seeds in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

2015: NCAA Selection Committee Clarifies Use of RPI

In 2015, the NCAA selection committee stated that the RPI was used for grouping teams into categories like top 50 and top 100 and evaluating wins and losses. They emphasized that it was not the primary factor for team selection.

2016: Syracuse's Performance in Boeheim's Absence Considered

Joe Castiglione, NCAA selection committee chair in 2016, highlighted that the committee factored in Syracuse's contrasting performance with and without coach Jim Boeheim during the 2015-2016 season, considering his absence similar to a key player injury.

2016: Automatic Bids for Conference Tournament Winners

Starting in the 2016-2017 season, 32 teams automatically qualified for the tournament by winning their respective conference tournaments.

2018: RPI Replaced by NET for Men's Tournament Selection

During the 2018 offseason, the NCAA announced the replacement of the RPI with the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) for the men's tournament selection process. This new metric incorporated various input data to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of teams.

2018: Turner Sports Airs Selection Show

In 2018, Turner Sports (specifically TBS) took over the broadcasting of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Show as part of their new rights agreement for the Final Four and National Championship. The move was met with significant criticism from fans who disliked the change in format and network.

2018: RPI's Role in Men's Tournament Selection

Until the 2018 men's tournament, the RPI was a key factor in selecting and seeding teams. However, in 2015, the NCAA selection committee clarified its use of the RPI, stating it was primarily for grouping teams and evaluating wins and losses, not as the primary selection factor.

2019: RPI's Role in Women's Tournament Selection

Similar to the men's tournament, the RPI played a significant role in selecting and seeding teams for the women's tournament until the 2019 tournament. However, it's use was clarified in 2015 as a tool for grouping teams and evaluating performance rather than being the main factor for selection.

2020: NET Adopted for Women's Tournament Selection

Starting with the 2020-2021 season, the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament also began using the NET for its selection process. This marked a significant shift from the previous reliance on the RPI, aligning the women's tournament with the men's in using this new evaluation tool.

2021: Continued Use of RPI in Other Sports

Despite the adoption of the NET for basketball, the RPI continued to be used in other sports for NCAA tournament selection. This highlighted that the NET was specifically implemented for basketball while other sports continued with their established selection metrics.

2021: End of Simultaneous Selection Shows

For years, both the men's and women's NCAA tournament selections were announced on Selection Monday. However, this practice ended in 2021, paving the way for separate announcements on different days.

2022: Women's Selections Move to Sunday Evening

Following the introduction of the First Four to the women's NCAA tournament in 2022, the women's selection show was shifted to Sunday evening, following the men's announcement. This change aimed to provide more focused attention to the women's tournament and its expanded format.

2022: Women's Bracket Announcement Moved to Selection Sunday

In 2022, the NCAA announced that the women's championship brackets and seeds will also be revealed on Selection Sunday, alongside the men's brackets. Previously, the women's brackets were announced a day later on Selection Monday.

2024: First Four Out Policy Extended to Women's WBIT

In 2024, the NCAA implemented the same "First Four Out" policy, granting the top seeds in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) to the four teams just missing the cut for the main NCAA women's tournament.