Tie breaks.....will come in useful this week

17. Tie-Breaking Principles
a. General Procedures
The following procedures are to be used to determine seeding for a Conference tournament or to establish the
automatic qualifier to an NCAA Championship subject to any sport regulation tie-breakers.
Regulations
[1] Ties for all places in the standings (between two teams or three or more teams) which can be broken
based upon head-to-head competition are broken before the implementation of further tie-breaking
procedures.

[2] If more than two teams are tied, the three or more tie-breaking procedures shall be implemented. If
only two teams are tied, the two-team tie-breaking procedures shall be implemented.

[3] In the case of ties for more than one place, the first tie broken is that of the highest place (i.e., first
place, second place, etc.) and continue downward through the standings.

[4] If the tie is for first place and cannot be broken by a head-to-head results, compare the tied teams’
winning percentage against the next highest finishing team and continue through the standings. The team
with the best winning percentage against the next highest-finishing team or group of tied teams advances.
If the tie is for any position other than first place, the comparison shall begin at the top of the standings.

[5] Once a tied team has been placed in a position/seed, that team shall be included in all further comparisons
of other tied teams from the position/seed in which it has been placed.

b. Tie-Breaking Procedures
[1] Two-Way Tie:

[i] The winner of the head-to-head competition is the higher seed.

[ii] If the tie is for first place, compare the tied teams’ records against the next highest finishing team
and continue through the standings. The team with the best record/winning percentage against the
next highest finishing team or group of tied teams advances. If the tie is for any position other than
first place, the comparison shall begin at the top of the standings.

[iii] If a tie still remains, the institution with the highest RPI following
the conclusion of the WAC’s regular season shall receive the higher seed (replaces iii above).
The official NCAA RPI shall be used, if available. If not, CollegeRPI.com shall be used. [5/06]


[2] Three or More-Way Tie. Once a tie has been reduced to two teams, the two-team tie-breaker is
implemented.

[i] Compare the records of the tied teams against each other. The team(s) with the best record(s)
versus the other tied teams receives the higher seed or advances to the next tie-breaker; the team
with the next best record versus the other tied teams receives the next highest seed or advances to
the next tie breaker, etc.

[ii] If the tie is for first place, compare the tied teams’ records against the next highest finishing team
and continue through the standings. The team with the best record against the next highest-finishing
team or group of tied teams advances. If the tie is for any position other than first place the comparison
shall begin at the top of the standings.

[iii] If a tie still remains, the Conference office shall conduct a draw. The first team drawn shall receive
the higher seed, the second team drawn shall receive the next highest seed, etc.

[iv] Men and Women’s Basketball Only. If a tie still remains, the institution with the highest RPI following
the conclusion of the WAC’s regular season shall receive the higher seed (replaces iii above).
The official NCAA RPI shall be used, if available. If not, CollegeRPI.com shall be used. [5/06]