How is the tournament seeded?
First, the field of 16 is grouped, or “banded,” into groups of four; four No. 1 seeds, four No. 2 seeds, four No. 3 seeds, and four No. 4 seeds. The process for doing this follows a similar process for selecting the at-large teams. The No. 1 seeds are decided by taking, in essence, the top four PWR teams. They are given overall seeds of 1-4. They are then placed as close to their home region as possible, with preference going to the top overall seed. The remaining teams are also seeded as close to their home region as possible, but may be moved by taking into account factors mentioned below.
