Questions about the Selection Process

[Cycsk]

Some day, if it ever get to talk to Jamie Pollard about the NCAA tournament selection process, I want to have some questions ready. Here are some of mine.

1. Why are not all Round 1/2 sites correlated with the same Round 3/4 regional sites? For example, why does KU start in Des Moines, but set up to go to the West region rather than the KC region?
2. Is there a rule to prevent lower seeded teams from having a geographic advantage? For example, why wasn't Auburn prevented from playing in Birmingham?
3. How much impact does the conference tournament have?
4. Does the committee pay any attention to the total number of teams coming from particular conferences?
5. Might the committee have picked UCLA as a #4 seed and made ISU a #5 seed because of wanting UCLA to host Rounds 1/2 in the women's tournament? Because of TV viewership potential? Or because ISU hosted last year? Or because EIU was also hosting this year? Or trying to spread hosting around to other conferences?
6. For what rounds are teams protected from repeat matchups?

Please feel free to add your own. Or provide links if there are official answers.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

I could’ve sworn 1 & 2 was due to travel costs concerns after the 2008/09 financial crisis.

 

[cmjh10]

1. The committee prioritizes putting high seeds (1-4 in each region) in the city closest to them. In order of overall seeding.

2. The 3 teams in the pod of 4 teams then follow their high seed to that location.

 

[alarson]

Some day, if it ever get to talk to Jamie Pollard about the NCAA tournament selection process, I want to have some questions ready. Here are some of mine.

1. Why are not all Round 1/2 sites correlated with the same Round 3/4 regional sites? For example, why does KU start in Des Moines, but set up to go to the West region rather than the KC region?
2. Is there a rule to prevent lower seeded teams from having a geographic advantage? For example, why wasn't Auburn prevented from playing in Birmingham?
3. How much impact does the conference tournament have?
4. Does the committee pay any attention to the total number of teams coming from particular conferences?
5. Might the committee have picked UCLA as a #4 seed and made ISU a #5 seed because of wanting UCLA to host Rounds 1/2 in the women's tournament? Because of TV viewership potential? Or because ISU hosted last year? Or because EIU was also hosting this year? Or trying to spread hosting around to other conferences?
6. For what rounds are teams protected from repeat matchups?

Please feel free to add your own. Or provide links if there are official answers.

1- A lot of rules in place that they have to contend with that I imagine it would be harder to deal with if they had to align the pods to the region. They mostly just aim to give the top 4 seeds in each region the closest R64 location to home.
2- Only for the first round, and only to protect the top few seeds (if you're an 8 seed like iowa, you get what you get)
3- Not much unless you're in contention for a top seed or on the bubble. Maybe 1 seed line.
4- They're not supposed to and they'll never admit it if they do
5- Same answer as #4, but also the committee has so many other conditions to have to work around already I doubt they're adding additional factors or coordinating with the womens' tournament, which has its own committee.
6- I believe rematches are avoided for all teams for the first round, and the first 2 rounds for same-conference.

 

[cyclones500]

For Question 1, @cmjh10 and @alarson summarized the basics.

Additional notes connected to that question (excuse my tl/dr, but posting it anyway)

a) This season KU could have been in Des Moines then Midwest region in Kansas City, but committee deemed Houston the second overall #1, and place UH in KC and shipped Kansas west. (Alabama granted top seed and got the South region). Many including me expected Kansas getting at minimum 2nd billing and Houston 3rd, but committee believed otherwise.

b) A bit of history: Current "pod" system began in 2002. Prior to that, first weekend sites fed directly into regional sites, arranged geographically. Each quadrant for first-weekend games was “locked” into a region. Quadrant 1/16-8/9-5/12-4/13 played at one sub-region site, 6/11-3/14/7/10/2-15 in the other sub-region.

Random example, in 1998 (not including specific teams, only the location/seedings):

EAST (Greensboro)
Hartford: 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13
Washington, D.C.: 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-15

WEST (Anaheim)
Sacramento: 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13
Boise: 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-15

SOUTH (St. Petersburg)
Lexington: 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13
Atlanta 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-15

MIDWEST (St. Louis)
Oklahoma City: 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13
Chicago: 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-15

If previous system was in place for 2023 tournament, it might have been constructed this way:

SOUTH (Louisville)
Birmingham: 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13
Orlando: 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-15

EAST (New York)
Greensboro 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13
Albany: 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-1

MIDWEST (Kansas City)
Des Moines: 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13
Columbus: 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-15

WEST (Las Vegas)
Sacramento: 1-16/8-9/5-12/4-13
Denver: 6-11/3-14/7-10/2-15

 

[8bitnes]

3. You've already played 30 games this season. A conference tourney is therefore <10% of your season. Your also already played those teams at least once, preferably twice. Very little is learned. At best, it can move you up one seed at the power 5 level

 

[HoopsTournament]

The pod system was set in place after Iowa State was shipped out to Boise when they had a 2 seed. They lost to *******. That is what actually prompted them to start looking into the pod system. The next year they adopted it.

 

[HoopsTournament]

6. If you have played twice, you can't meet again until Sweet Sixteen. If you have played 3 times, you can't meet again until Elite Eight. If you are in the same conference, you can't meet until second round, but they try hard not to have them meet until Sweet Sixteen.

 

[CoKane]

Some day, if it ever get to talk to Jamie Pollard about the NCAA tournament selection process, I want to have some questions ready. Here are some of mine.

1. Why are not all Round 1/2 sites correlated with the same Round 3/4 regional sites? For example, why does KU start in Des Moines, but set up to go to the West region rather than the KC region?
2. Is there a rule to prevent lower seeded teams from having a geographic advantage? For example, why wasn't Auburn prevented from playing in Birmingham?
3. How much impact does the conference tournament have?
4. Does the committee pay any attention to the total number of teams coming from particular conferences?
5. Might the committee have picked UCLA as a #4 seed and made ISU a #5 seed because of wanting UCLA to host Rounds 1/2 in the women's tournament? Because of TV viewership potential? Or because ISU hosted last year? Or because EIU was also hosting this year? Or trying to spread hosting around to other conferences?
6. For what rounds are teams protected from repeat matchups?

Please feel free to add your own. Or provide links if there are official answers.

1. It's based on your placement as a 1 seed. Kansas was the 3rd overall 1 seed. Alabama and Houston took regions closer to them first. The West was the closest of the 2 left for KU.

2. There was but I believe it was removed due to what 2015 just said above

3. Unknown. The committee never really addresses them outside of once when they said they can only help you, not hurt you. I heard that a while ago though so it might be irrelevant now.

4. Nope. Committee head was quoted saying conference alignment isn't a factor in selection

5. Don't know but don't think so. They always say no, but I suppose you never know what happens in the room unless you're there.

6. One matchup = 1 protected round, barring circumstances where it's impossible. So Iowa State can't play Iowa in round 1 but round 2 is fair game. We couldn't play Oklahoma State or West Virginia until the Sweet 16. We couldn't play Baylor or Kansas until the Elite 8. Other bracketing rules may impede on that as well though

 

[jsb]

The pod system was set in place after Iowa State was shipped out to Boise when they had a 2 seed. They lost to *******. That is what actually prompted them to start looking into the pod system. The next year they adopted it.

I always thought our #2 seed the previous year played more into them doing the Pod system.

I'll say this, I'm probably the only Iowa State fan that has a somewhat positive view of that #2 seed in 2000. It was my junior year in college and a friend and I had gotten tickets to the Minneapolis first round games fairly early in the conference season. And because the seeds were set, we knew that the 2/15 and 7/10 games were going to be playing in Minneapolis. When we bought the tickets, it was still early enough we thought maybe we'd get lucky and Iowa State would get the 7 or 10 seed. And then the season went on and we thought there would be a chance we'd get the 2 seed. And then that Sunday after winning the conference tournament, we should have gotten the 1 seed. But it was kind of cool to see Iowa State come up as that 2 seed knowing that we were going to be in Minneapolis.