Championship Regulations

FORMAT

The Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball Championship is a single-elimination championship involving the 14 conference members. Seeds are determined by regular season conference standings according to final overall conference records and the tie- breaking formula, if necessary.

TIE-BREAKING FORMULA

The following tie-breaking format is utilized for determine seeding.

TWO-TEAM TIE

1. Head-to-head competition. 2. Conference record of the tied teams based on winning percentage versus the highest common opponent and proceeding down to the lowest common opponent, if necessary, until one team gains an advantage. a. All ties are broken in descending order. b. When arriving at another pair of tied teams, use each team’s record against the tied teams as a group. When comparing records against a group of teams, the higher winning percentage will prevail. In case of tied percentages vs. the team or group of 1.000 or .000, the following shall apply: 2-0 is better than 1-0; 0-1 is better than 0-2. 3. Coin toss.

THREE OR MORE TEAMS TIE

1. Head-to-head competition. Use each team’s record against the tied teams as a group rather than performance against individual teams. When comparing records against a group of teams, the higher winning percentage will prevail. In case of tied percentages vs. the team or group of 1.000 or .000, the following shall apply: 2-0 is better than 1-0; 0-1 is better than 0-2. 2. If the above results in two teams remaining, the two-team tiebreaker is used. 3. If more than two teams still remain, use the Conference record of the tied teams based on winning percentage versus the highest common opponent and proceeding down to the lowest common opponent, if necessary, until one team gains an advantage. a. All ties are broken in descending order. b. When arriving at another pair of tied teams, use each team’s record against the tied teams as a group. When comparing records against a group of teams, the higher winning percentage will prevail. In case of tied percentages vs. the team or group of 1.000 or .000, the following shall apply: 2-0 is better than 1-0; 0-1 is better than 0-2. 4. Draw lots.

NOTE: All ties will be broken in descending order. When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the tied teams as a group rather than the performance against individual tied teams. Once ties are broken, they remain broken throughout the tiebreaker process.

SEEDING

The Atlantic 10 will use a hybrid seeding procedure for seeding the 2022 Women’s Basketball Championship.

- The league will use straight winning percentage as the overall procedure unless the average number of games completed by all teams falls to or below 12 games for women’s basketball (which is 75% of a 16-game schedule). - If the average number of games completed by each team falls to or below or 12, the league automatically shifts to the

KenPom adjusted winning percentage overall procedure. Projected decision date for the shift would be on or about Feb. 22. - Existing tiebreakers will be utilized, regardless of which model is used. - In both methods, there will be a threshold of four games below the average number of games completed to qualify for the double-bye (top four seed) AND win the regular season championship. If a team does not play enough games, the highest it could be seeded would be fifth. - The chart below dictates how many games are needed to be eligible for a regular season title and double-bye/top four seed.

Average Games Completed Threshold (must equal or be above) 16 12 15 11 14 10 13 9

ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

Seeding of teams will be formally announced by the conference office on Saturday, February 26, 2022 after the conclusion of the last regular season game. If a coin flip or draw is necessary, it will be administered by the A-10 Commissioner or her designee at the conclusion of the last regular season game.

GAME OFFICIALS

All games will be officiated by three (3) Atlantic 10 Conference officials with one (1) alternate official. The A-10 Coordinator of Officials will assign officials to work each game with the approval of the championship director. All officiating assignments will be released to the Director of Basketball Operations or his/her designee one (1) hour prior to game time.

PLAYING RULES

NCAA 2021-22 Basketball Rules shall govern championship play.