The pandemic has necessitated blanket waiver granting flexibility to the normal application of multi-team event legislative criteria
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NCAA Blanket Waivers Trying to Save Multi-Team Basketball Events During the Height of the Pandemic
Early season multi-team events are signature components to Division I men’s and women’s basketball schedules
NCAA rules governing Division I men’s and women’s basketball contest limits incorporate multi-team events as one scheduling option for filling out a schedule
The pandemic has necessitated a blanket waiver granting flexibility to the normal application of multi-team event legislative criteria
Multi-team events begin later this month
The stops and starts (and stops again) of the college football fall season continue earning the college athletics headlines. Right around the corner, though, are the prospects and challenges of launching the 2020-21 men’s basketball and women’s basketball playing seasons as the pandemic surges.
The early stages of many Division I basketball teams’ seasons are highlighted by qualifying regular season multi-team events (MTEs). MTEs are longstanding legislated exceptions to the overall contest limits for both men’s and women’s basketball.
The legislative history of MTEs and their relationship to college basketball contest limits begins, in part, with the recognition that event operators have played a significant role in putting together quality, non-conference competitions at neutral sites early in the season and that the playing and practice seasons should facilitate their existence. MTEs are often scheduled during the week of Thanksgiving and during winter breaks in December. Some of the most popular MTEs call are held in tropical locales such as Maui, Cancun, and the Bahamas [NOTE: this article reflects the originally scheduled MTEs; several have been canceled or line-ups reshuffled due to pandemic].
The participation rate across Division I in MTEs is high. For example, according to the NCAA, 92% of Division I men's basketball teams participated in an MTE in 2018-19.
Men’s and women’s basketball both have identical annual contest limits under NCAA rules: the option of playing 29 contests or 27 plus one exempted MTE. For many years both men’s and women’s basketball MTEs could include up to four contests per participating school. Therefore, the true maximum limit for basketball contests was using the “27+MTE” option that equates to 31 games (or 27 contests plus 4-games exempted in the MTE).
Earlier this calendar year and prior to COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, Division I men’s basketball recalibrated its scheduling limits and now permits teams to play up to either 29 contests or 28 contests plus one exempted MTE with the exempted MTE now only permitting three games (not four). The reason for that change was the repeated challenges of getting enough teams to play a fourth game within the MTE legislative construct. Division I women’s basketball did not make a change and has maintained 29 contests or 27 contests plus one exempted four-game MTE model.
Under normal, non-COVID circumstances, institutions participating in the same NCAA MTE must adhere to a set of criteria that speaks to the number of games, the time frame to complete those games, event sponsors, and other formulaic requirements.
For Division I men’s basketball, an MTE is one in which:
The event is sponsored by the NCAA, an active member or a member conference of the NCAA or the National Association of Basketball Coaches;
The event includes not more than three contests per institution. An event in which each institution participates in three contests must conclude not later than 10 days after the first contest of the event. An event in which each institution participates in two contests must conclude not later than five days after the first contest of the event;
Participation is limited, by conference, to one team per conference and, by institution, to not more than once in the same event in any four-year period;
Each participating institution is using the same applicable option as its maximum contest limitation for the playing season in which it participates in the event;
Each participating institution must participate in the same number of contests in the event; and
The event may include a non-Division I institution as a participant only if the non-Division I institution serves as the host of the event.
For women's basketball MTEs under normal circumstances, similar, but fewer criteria are set forth:
The event is sponsored by the NCAA, an active member or a member conference of the NCAA or the Women's Basketball Coaches Association;
The event includes not more than four contests per institution and concludes not later than 14 days after the first contest of the event;
Participation is limited, by conference, to one team per conference and, by institution, to not more than once in the same event in any four-year period; and
Each participating institution is using identical maximum contest limitations for the playing season in which it participates in the event.
As we head into the 2020-21 basketball seasons, notable differences between the men’s basketball MTE formula and the women’s basketball MTE formula include the different contest limits (women get four, men get three) and different time frames to complete all games (women get 14 days, men get 10 days).
Those respective MTE criteria, though, were crafted for normal circumstances. Those are in short supply in 2020. With that in mind, the Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and the Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee recently took action and recommended to the NCAA national office the activation of blanket waivers for MTE criteria specific to the 2020-21 season.
The NCAA granted the request for blanket waivers to the MTE criteria.
For men’s basketball MTEs, NCAA Division I programs may participate in an MTE that does not meet the legislated MTE requirements during the 2020-21 playing season provided:
1. The institution’s original MTE participation was impacted by an unforeseen circumstance caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., cancelled, rescheduled, an institution withdrew from the event due to state/local health and safety guidelines, institution is required to quarantine);
2. The circumstances were outside of the institution’s control; and
3. One or more of the conditions outlined below is satisfied:
Two teams from the same conference may participate in the same MTE provided the teams do not play each other in the MTE, unless the contest occurs during the final round of a bracketed event;
A team may participate in the same MTE twice in a four-year period provided the team participates in the event during the 2020-21 season and the original location of the event was moved due to the pandemic;
An event in which each institution participates in three contests may conclude not later than 14 days after the first contest of the event;
An event in which each institution participates in two contests may conclude not later than nine days after the first contest of the event;
One non-Division I team (that is not serving as the host of the MTE) may participate in a MTE provided the team is located within 400 miles of the sponsoring institution or conference;
Teams may participate in a different number of games in an MTE provided all teams were originally scheduled to participate in the same number of games in the event;
Teams in the same event may use different maximum contest limitations provided all teams were originally scheduled to use the same maximum contest limit; and
A team may participate in two MTEs during the 2020-21 season provided the team does not exceed the maximum contest limitation of 27 games.
For women’s basketball, NCAA Division I programs may participate in an MTE that does not meet the legislated MTE requirements during the 2020-21 playing season provided:
1. The institution's original MTE participation was impacted by an unforeseen circumstance caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., cancelled, rescheduled, an institution withdrew from the event due to state/local health and safety guidelines, institution is required to quarantine);
2. The circumstances were outside of the institution's control; and
3. One or more of the conditions outlined below is satisfied:
4. Two teams from the same conference may participate in the same MTE provided the teams do not play each other in the MTE, unless the contest occurs during the final round of a bracketed event;
A team may participate in the same MTE twice in a four-year period provided the team participates in the event during the 2020-21 season and the original location of the event was moved due to the pandemic;
An event may conclude not later than 21 days after the first contest of the event;
Teams may participate in a different number of games in an MTE provided all teams were originally scheduled to participate in the same number of games in the event;
Teams in the same event may use different maximum contest limitations provided all teams were originally scheduled to use the same maximum contest limit; and
A team may participate in two MTEs during the 2020-21 season provided the team does not exceed the maximum contest limitation of 27 games (23 and up to four contests within MTEs or 25 contests with no MTEs.
The waiver flexibility enables a broader pool of potential schools (including schools from the same league) to participate in the same MTE. It also allows teams to use different maximum contest limits and provides a longer runway in terms of the number of days to complete all games tied to the MTE.
Is your Division I institution’s men’s basketball team participating in an MTE in the coming weeks? Check here for the latest men’s basketball MTE schedule.
What is the Division I women’s basketball community saying about MTEs? Here are a few insights regarding the start of women’s basketball season including MTEs.
As with most things 2020, basketball schedules are fluid.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
