Balancing Reward and Madness in NCAA Conference Tournaments

With only one guaranteed spot for each conference in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, winning the conference tournament is vital for most schools to enter the "Big Dance." Unless they don't lose in the regular season, the odds of Fairleigh Dickinson ever making the tournament are essentially zero without the automatic bid. 

Critics of this process argue that it discounts the validity of the regular season for "Mid-Major" schools. While a team could be the clear top team in a conference and have the record to show it, one untimely upset could release them from NCAA tournament contention. 

Northeast Conference: Low Reward, Low Madness

Most conference tournaments use a traditional bracket format, where (nearly) everyone must win the same number of games to snag the automatic bid. Central Connecticut State won the 2023-2024 regular season in the Northeast Conference (NEC), but they are unrewarded for it - the Blue Devils need the same number of wins as 6-seeded Wagner to clinch.

Copyright Northeast Conference, 2024

This is where leagues such as the West Coast Conference (WCC) and Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) step in as good examples of how to adjust tournaments to make sure that teams gain a real advantage from performing well in the regular season.

West Coast Conference: High Reward, High Madness

The nine-team West Coast Conference allows all of its teams to qualify for the conference tournament - with one big caveat. Simply put: the better your regular season, the fewer games you have to win to be conference champion.

Copyright West Coast Conference, 2024

As the 8-seed, the Pepperdine Waves (5-11 in WCC play) must win five games to grab the automatic bid, while perennial at-large teams St. Mary's and Gonzaga only need to win two. With the energy needed to win that many games on back-to-back days (with a Sunday break), higher-seeded teams have a significant and understandable advantage that rewards them for their pre-tournament accolades.

Ivy League: High Reward, Low Madness

The Ivy League goes the opposite route in providing opportunities for its top teams - only four of the eight qualify for the conference tournament. This follows the more traditional playoff styles of the NHL and NBA, but has one major flaw: its contribution to March Madness is fleeting at best. Having only three games in the conference tournament makes for an underwhelming bracket with little opportunity to see a Cinderella story. At least in the WCC, six-seeded Portland has an opportunity to create some buzz with potential upsets. 

The Ivy League bracket has not yet been finalized.

Ohio Valley Conference: High Reward, High Madness

The OVC provides a beautiful balance between the WCC and Ivy League formats. Of the eleven schools, only eight qualify for the conference battle, similar to the Ivy League's exclusion of its underperforming teams. 

Copyright Ohio Valley Conference, 2024

That isn't all, though. Like the WCC, the top two teams automatically advance to the semifinal, the next two snag a spot in the quarterfinal, and only the 5- through 8-seeds play in Round 1. Being good enough to qualify for the tournament isn't enough - #7 Eastern Illinois needs to win four games to get the automatic bid, while #1 Little Rock only needs two wins. 

Larger conferences such as the SEC, Big 10, and ACC annually qualify multiple at-large teams for the NCAA tournament. For smaller conferences though, the one automatic bid may be their only opportunity into the Big Dance. Year after year, more conferences are exploring new ways to ensure that the regular season has meaning for teams at the latter end of their schedule while maintaining the potential for truth in the NCAA's postseason nickname...

MARCH MADNESS.

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