Athletics Veritas is a weekly series aimed at helping higher education executives, faculty, and other stakeholders stay tuned in on trending national issues impacting college athletics, especially NCAA Division I. Athletics Veritas is created by senior DI athletic administrators around the nation.
Term-in-Ology: Exempting Conference Basketball Tournament Games
One of the playing season variables all coaches and administrators need to sort is determining the actual contests their team may play versus contests schools must count toward the NCAA’s annual limit. The reason there is variability is due to the NCAA’s list of annual exemptions under each sport’s playing season rules.
A primary example of contests that are permissibly played under NCAA rules but can be exempted from counting against the NCAA contest limits are season-ending conference tournaments. In men’s and women’s basketball, season-ending conference tournaments are the appetizer to March Madness and are their own brand of excitement as NCAA tournament bids are awarded to the winners of these conference tournaments.
The NCAA’s annual exemption rule allows for a regularly scheduled, season-end, single-elimination basketball championship tournament conducted by a conference (or the tournament used to determine the conference's automatic entry in an NCAA basketball tournament) among some or all of its members to be exempted from the NCAA’s basketball contest limit.
Similar season-ending conference tournament exemptions exist under other NCAA sports playing season rules, too.
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.
