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1. A top priority for the committee is to balance the bracket in each region across the country.



2. The teams seeded 64 and 65 will compete in an opening-round game the week of the first round. The winner of the opening-round game will play as a No. 16 seed in the first round at a Friday-Sunday first-round site to be determined by the committee during selection weekend.



3. The committee will assign all four teams in each ‘pod’ (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 ‘pods’ 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 ‘pods’ at a first-/second-round site may feed into different regional sites.



4. 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.



5. 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.



6. All four teams on each seed line (No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, etc.) should be as equal as possible.



7. Teams will remain in or as close to their areas of natural interest as possible. A team moved out of its natural area will be placed in the next closest region when possible.
   
   If two teams from the same natural region are in contention for the same bracket position, the team ranked higher in the seed list shall remain in its natural region.



8. A team will not be permitted to play in any arena in which it has played more than three regular-season games, not including conference post-season tournaments.



9. A host institution’s team shall not be permitted to play at the site where the institution is hosting. However, the team may play on the same days when the institution is hosting.



10. Each of the first three teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions.



11. 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.)



12. In lines No. 5-12, two teams from the same conference may be placed in the same group of four.



13. 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, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 16; or Nos. 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14 and 15.



14. There shall not be more than two teams from a conference in one region unless a ninth team is selected from a conference.



15. To ensure equitable competitive opportunities, the committee shall not place teams seeded on the first five lines at a potential “home-crowd disadvantage” in the first round.



16. An institution 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.



17. If the committee is unable to reconcile the bracket after exhausting all possible options, it has the flexibility to waive principle No. 13 to permit two teams from the same conference to meet each other after the first round, if the conference has more than five participants.

Additional Considerations

1. If possible, rematches of regular-season games should be avoided in the first and second rounds.



2. If possible, rematches of previous years’ tournament games should be avoided in the first and second rounds.



3. The committee will examine the previous five 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.

Procedures for Placing the Teams into the Championship Bracket

1. Place the four “number 1 seed” teams seeded 1 through 4 in each of the four regions, then determine the Final Four semifinals pairings, making best effort to pair the top No. 1 seed’s region against the fourth No. 1 seed’s region and the second No. 1 seed’s region against the third No. 1 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 the top four teams in each region, the committee will assign those teams (and, therefore, all teams in their bracketing sequence—e.g., seeds 1, 8, 9, 16) 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 seed list. When multiple teams are a similar distance from a site, generally the team with the higher seed-list 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. In each bracket line Nos. 5 through 12, the committee will assign all four teams a bracket line number (i.e., five through twelve) rather than using the seed-list 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 seed list 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 fours to ensure adherence to the principles for seeding.



16. Review the principles (Section III) for placing teams in the championship bracket.