Rpi In College Basketball | Blog: Tile Hill College Of Further Education

NCAA's March Madness is the time of the year when college basketball fans tune in to fill out their brackets and hope to predict this year's Cinderella team. Placed conveniently between the NFL and MLB seasons, March Madness is the perfect escape for a fan searching for a few short weeks of excitement sandwiched between months of commitment. The competition in the NCAA Tournament is unrivaled, where an entire season hangs in the balance every single day, and for most teams, this starts before any brackets are filled out, in the conference championship tournaments. With all the excitement that surrounds March Madness, it is easy to get lost in the talk of RPI's and bursting bubbles, so this guide was provided to break down what goes into the NCAA Tournament.

Automatic Bids and Conference Championships

The first step in selecting the field for the NCAA Tournament is to give automatic births to each team that wins its conference. These bids are earned through 30 individual conference tournaments where the winner gains a "ticket to the big dance". The 31st automatic birth goes to the winner of the Ivy League, who does not hold a conference tournament.

Selection Sunday

Held during the Sunday before the NCAA Tournament officially begins, the remaining 34 At-Large bids are given out to those teams that the Selection Committee deems are worthy enough to enter the tournament. The Selection Committee consists of ten officials who deliberate over each team in Division 1 Basketball and fill out the rest of the tournament field. The Selection Committee is supposed to make objective decisions based on each team's strength of schedule, quality wins, and RPI, among other things.