How are the regions aligned?
The regions are split into East, Northeast, West and Midwest. The four top-ranked teams in the tournament are awarded No. 1 seeds and can come from anywhere, in accordance with the PWR. The remaining 12 teams are then “banded” into groups of four, corresponding to Seed Nos. 2-4. An attempt will first be made to keep teams closest to their home region, but there is an emphasis on avoiding first-round intra-conference matchups. Factors such as maximizing gate revenue, and limiting travel costs can also be taken into consideration. As a result, seeds can be flip-flop with same-numbered seeds of other regions. Though not in its stated list of guidelines, the committee has made a concerted effort in the two years the 16-team field has existed to maintain a strict bracket. In other words, teams are given overall seed numbers, 1-16. The brackets are arranged 1-6-8-9, 2-15-7-10, 3-14-6-11, 4-13-5-12. Adjustments are then made for factors such as avoiding intra-conference matchups, and host sch
