Big East Championship Tournament Seeding Formula

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-How the BIG EAST operates the post-season


- Lady Cards end regular season tonight


-BIG EAST pick'em contest



FOR THOSE  OF YOU WHO WANT TO KNOW

Courtesy of the Big East website: http://www.bigeast.org/portals/5/fls/19400/pdfs/womens_basketball/WBB-TieBreaking.pdf

A. Seeding Announcement
 The last regular season Conference games occur Monday, February 27. Championship seeding will be
released Monday evening (February 27) following the conclusion of the games.

B. Tournament Seeding Formula
 Overall Conference record, at the conclusion of the regular season, is used to seed teams numbering 1
through 16. All teams qualify for the Conference Championship. The following procedures are set up to
establish seeding for the championship and to break ties. Follow the appropriate steps in order.

C. Tie-Breaking Procedure for Seeding
 Two-Team Tie
1. Regular season head-to-head results (one or two games).
 If the tied teams split their two games, then proceed to Step 2 below.
2. Each team’s record vs. the team or tied teams occupying the highest position in the standings.
 Continue down through the standings until one team gains an advantage. When comparing records
against a single team or collective tied teams (before ties are broken), the following may apply:
 a. If the games played against the team or group are equal, winning percentage prevails.
 b. If the games played against the team or group are unequal, the following scenarios apply:
 i. Most wins do prevail only if the team with fewer wins could not equal that win total if
they played the same number of games. Two examples of many scenarios that do
provide an advantage:
 1) Team A 2-0 2) Team A 3-0
 Team B 0-1 Team B 1-1
 ii. Most wins do not prevail if the team with fewer wins could equal or surpass the win
total of the other team. Two examples of many scenarios that do not provide an
advantage:
 1) Team A 1-1 2) Team A 2-0
 Team B 0-1 Team B 1-0
 iii. Fewer losses do not prevail if the teams have the same number of wins and if the team
with fewer games could equal or surpass the loss total of the other team. Two examples
of many scenarios that do not provide an advantage:
 1) Team A 1-0 2) Team A 0-1
 Team B 1-1 Team B 0-2
 c. If an advantage is not determined, proceed to the next team or group in the standings for
comparison.
 d. If the tie cannot be broken after continuing down through the last team or teams in the
standings, revert back to comparing records against the top teams in order and allow winning
percentage to prevail even if there is a comparison of unequal games. Only then, if the
percentages are both 1.000, is 2-0 better than 1-0. However, the reverse is not true – no team
gains advantage when all have a .000 winning percentage (0-1 is never better than 0-2).
 Tie-Breaking Procedure for Seeding continued
 Multiple-Team Tie (3 or more teams)
 1. Teams are viewed as a “mini-conference” when comparing head-to-head results.
 The team with the best record (as determined by winning percentage, even if unequal games) vs.
the other teams in the mini-conference gains the advantage. The team with the worst record (as
determined by winning percentage, even if unequal games) vs. the other teams in the miniconference
is seeded the lowest.
 a. If only two teams have the same best winning percentage in the mini-conference, the higher
seed goes to the team winning the head-to-head series.
 b. If the two teams split their two games, then proceed to Step 2 under Two-Way ties. To seed
the remaining team(s) in this mini-conference, proceed to (e) below.
 c. If three or more (but not all) teams have the same best winning percentage in the original
mini-conference, then those tied teams create a new mini-conference and follow this same
procedure beginning of Step 1 (Multiple Team Tie).
 d. If all teams in the mini-conference have the same mini-conference record, proceed to Step 2
below.
 e. After the top or bottom teams in a mini-conference are determined, the remaining teams are
ranked by their record in the original mini-conference.
i. If there are any remaining teams tied by their record in the mini-conference, then headto-
head results will determine the higher seed.
ii. If the teams split two games, then proceed back to the two-way tie breaking procedure.
iii. If there are at least three teams remaining tied by their record in the mini-conference,
they would then form a new mini-conference and follow the procedure again at the
beginning of Step 1 (Multiple-Team Tie).
 2. Compare each team’s record vs. the team or group of tied teams occupying the highest position in
the standings. Continue down through the standings until one or more teams gain an advantage. If
two teams have the exact same advantage (i.e., having the same and better record against a
compared team relative to their mini-conference), they are separated at that point by the two-way
tiebreaker procedure. The next step would take you back to Step 1 (e) (Multiple-Team Tie). When
comparing records against a single team or collective tied teams (before ties are broken), the
following may apply:
 a. The games played against the team or group are equal, winning percentage prevails.
 b. If the games played against the team or group are unequal, the following scenarios apply:
 i. Most wins do prevail only if the team(s) with fewer wins could not equal that win total if
they played the same number of games. Two examples of many scenarios that do
provide an advantage:
 1) Team A 2-0 2) Team A 3-1
 Team B 1-1 Team B 1-2
 Team C 0-1 Team C 1-2

 Multiple-Team Tie (3 or more teams) continued
 ii. Most wins do not prevail if the team(s) with fewer wins could equal or surpass the win
total of the other team. Two examples of many scenarios that do not provide an
advantage:
 1) Team A 2-1 2) Team A 1-2
 Team B 1-1 Team B 0-2
 Team C 1-1 Team C 0-2
 iii. Fewer losses do not prevail if the team(s) have the same number of wins, but the team
with fewer games could equal or surpass the loss total of the other tied teams. Two
examples of many scenarios that do not provide an advantage:
 1) Team A 2-0 2) Team A 0-2
 Team B -1 Team B 0-3
 Team C 2-1 Team C 0-3
 c. If an advantage is not determined, proceed to the next team or group in the standings for
comparison.
 d. If the tie cannot be broken after continuing down through the last team or teams in the
standings, revert back to comparing records against the top teams in order and allow winning
percentage to prevail even if there is a comparison of unequal games. Only then, if the
percentages are both 1.000, is 2-0 better than 1-0. However, the reverse is not true – no

John would flip a coin if worse comes
to worse. We're guessing it's a 50%
probability that he have to ask
someone whether it was head or tails.

team gains advantage when all have a .000 winning percentage (0-1 is never better than 0-2).
D. Coin Flip
If any ties still exist after implementing all of the above tie-breaking procedures, a coin flip is required. The
procedure takes place at The BIG EAST Conference office immediately following the conclusion of the last
regular season conference game. Commissioner John Marinatto or his designee will administer this
procedure. This session is open to the media and to athletic department representatives of the tied teams.

(Thanks to Sandy Walker for the above report !) 

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Louisville ends their regular season this evening with a trip to South Orange, New Jersey to face 8-21,1-15 Seton Hall. The record won't scare too many people and Anne Donovan will be the first to tell you it's a rebuilding season for her Pirates -- but nevertheless -- it's a very important game for UofL.  Pending is the final seeding for the above mentioned BIG EAST Tournament. The opponent finally got into the BIG EAST win column with an impressive win over Pitt...a team that took Louisville to overtime before falling 71-68.


Besides Jasmine Crew, the Pirates don't pose any real offensive threats. They've played some of their BIG EAST foes pretty closely, though...losing to Cincy by six, Georgetown by five, Villanova and Marquette by nine. 


Final home game of the year, saying goodbye to seniors, and taking on a top 20 team --all things that can get a lesser-ranked opponent pumped up to provide the upset.

Louisville looks to have a solid, consistent effort to prepare for the Hartford Invitational BIG EAST Tournament. If they played it today, the Lady Cards would be a #7 seed, receive a first round bye and face the winner of #10 vs. #15 game (we'd think Syracuse) on   Saturday. 


Anything can happen, though. Louisville is tied for sixth in the BIG EAST with Rutgers...who ends the season against Marquette in the RAC. A Scarlet Knight loss would put the Lady Cards in sixth. That's as high as UofL could climb, though, even if fifth seed WVU lost to Pitt tonight, since the Mountaineers defeated the Cards in the regular season and would win the tie-breaker. 


The game most anticipated this evening is probably Notre Dame's visit to UConn. An Irish win gives them the conference title by two games. The Huskies tie for the regular season title if they defend the XL Center advantage. 


Other match-ups are:


ST. JOHN'S @ Georgetown
Providence @ USF
Syracuse @ VILLANOVA
Pittsburgh @ WEST VIRGINIA
Marquette @ RUTGERS
Cincinnati @ DE PAUL 


We capitalized the teams the teams we think will win. How have we done so far in the BIG EAST schedule? There have been 240 BIG EAST conference games so far this year. WE abstained from picks in 5 of these...so we tried to pick 235 of them. We chose the right team 179 times and were incorrect 56 times. That's a little better than 3 out of 4 correct selections. Not bad, but we're not giving up our day jobs to become swami's or fortune tellers. 

Winner gets to pose with UofL
Card Game owner Charlie Springer!
Or Sonja. We're not strict. 

ONCE THE BRACKETS ARE FINALIZED AND ANNOUNCED...WE'LL have a "pick-em" contest for you to participate in if you want. Most correct picks wins a PANERA CARD. If there isn't a PANERA in your city, we'll send you information on how to become a franchise operator (Just kidding). We'll get something to you. You have the task of knocking last year's defending champion Sonja off her lofty perch. And, she's confident about registering a repeat this year. Aim and fire, readers. 


It's simple to play. Just pick who you think will win and advance. And, we'll remind you ad nauseam of the contest. You'll be able to enter via e-mail...or if you wish...in the comments section of any post up to Friday noon...if you're bold, confident and don't mind the rest of the readership seeing your selections. We'll post Sonja's and some of our writer's picks...and you can count on Co-Co and the other staff chimps to come up with a bracket or two. Covered in banana pudding. It's the only way we can get them to do anything. 


Good luck and GO CARDS! tonight. 
Paul
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