P
profgeekWhat is the tournament format of the WCC tournament? I live in Ohio Valley Conference land (Murray State is OVC), and last year they completely altered their tournament to a very interesting format. There are 11 teams in the conference. Of those, the top 8 regular season finishers qualify for the tournament (other 3 are out ... no play-ins or anything). This started last year, is called a "merit" format, and works like this:
Day 1 - 5 vs. 8, 6 vs. 7, 1-4 get byes
Day 2 - 5/8 winner vs. 4, 6/7 winner vs. 3, 1-2 get byes
Day 3 - 5/8 vs. 4 winner vs. 1, 6/7 vs. 3 winner vs. 2
Day 4 - championship
With this format, high seeding means byes. 1-2 seeds are automatically in the semifinals. In my opinion, this puts a lot more emphasis on the regular season than straight seeding, as the tournament is 4 days in a row. Getting to the championship game for a low seed would mean playing 4 straight days. In a traditional 8 team tournament, you'd play 3 days in a row if you were the top seed, whereas in the merit system, the 1 and 2 seeds would play, at most, two days in a row. I find this an interesting format and just wondered if the WCC does anything like this.
Day 1 - 5 vs. 8, 6 vs. 7, 1-4 get byes
Day 2 - 5/8 winner vs. 4, 6/7 winner vs. 3, 1-2 get byes
Day 3 - 5/8 vs. 4 winner vs. 1, 6/7 vs. 3 winner vs. 2
Day 4 - championship
With this format, high seeding means byes. 1-2 seeds are automatically in the semifinals. In my opinion, this puts a lot more emphasis on the regular season than straight seeding, as the tournament is 4 days in a row. Getting to the championship game for a low seed would mean playing 4 straight days. In a traditional 8 team tournament, you'd play 3 days in a row if you were the top seed, whereas in the merit system, the 1 and 2 seeds would play, at most, two days in a row. I find this an interesting format and just wondered if the WCC does anything like this.