Last updated in February 2023.
The selection process for the NCAA Division I women’s tournament has some similarities to the method for picking teams for the Division I men’s tournament, but it also differs in areas. Here’s an attempt to explain the process, using the NCAA’s official criteria.
Who’s eligible?
NCAA Division I and II teams that have played at least 20 games against Division I and II opponents and that have a NCAA Percentage Index of 50.00 or better.
How many teams make the tournament field?
The tournament expanded in 2022 to include 11 teams.
What conferences get automatic bids?
The CHA, Hockey East, ECAC Hockey, NEWHA and the WCHA. Those conferences have chosen to award their automatic bid to the winner of their postseason tournament.
How are the four at-large teams selected?
The NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Committee chooses them using a series of criteria.
The process starts with a series of comparisons between eligible teams based on a set of criteria. From the tournament selection manual:
• NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) [won-lost record (25%), strength of schedule (75%)]; including quality win bonus**
• Head-to-head competition; and
• Results versus common opponents.
*If points awarded for any win lower a team’s average NPI, those points will not count toward the RPI.
**Quality win bonus awarded for wins against championship-eligible teams with an NPI above 51.50.
USCHO.com attempts to simulate this process with the PairWise Rankings.
In the selection process, each of the criteria gives a team one point in the individual comparison with another team, except head-to-head wins. That criteria is worth the net difference (for example, if A has a 3-1-1 record against B, A gets two points).
The committee chooses six teams based on this criteria.
What’s the Quality Wins Bonus?
For the 2016 tournament, the committee decided to replace results against teams under consideration (defined as those at or above .5000 in RPI) with a sliding scale of bonus points added to a team’s RPI for defeating quality opponents, now defined as the top 12 championship eligible teams in the final selection RPI.
From a memo on the change:
The proposed Quality Wins Bonus recognizes performance against the strongest competition on a sliding scale, whereas the current “results versus teams under consideration” fails to distinguish performance against the topmost teams in the field from those teams near the median. The existing criteria also creates significant volatility in the selection process due to a cutoff point separating the “teams under consideration” from the rest of the field. The sliding scale of the Quality Wins Bonus would eliminate such volatility. This change brings the criteria in line with the current criteria for Division I men’s ice hockey.
Starting with the 2023 tournament, the Quality Wins Bonus involves extra credit for victories and overtime losses against teams that have an NPI of 51.50 or better.
How are overtime results treated?
A 3-on-3 overtime victory is worth 0.6667 of the points for the game in the NPI and a 3-on-3 overtime loss is worth 0.3333. Both are subject to home and road weighting.
How are the teams seeded?
Once the 11 teams are selected, the top four according to the criteria are seeded one through four and placed in the bracket so that if all advance to the Frozen Four, the No. 1 overall seed would play the No. 4 overall seed in the semifinals.
Starting with the 2022 tournament, the NCAA eliminated bracketing based on a priority to reduce flights.
The seeding is done according to the following criteria in the manual:
The following steps are taken during the selection meeting: In setting up the tournament, the committee begins with a list of priorities to ensure a successful tournament on all fronts, including competitive equity, financial success and the likelihood of a playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site.
For this model, the following is a basic set of priorities:
1. Once the five automatic qualifiers and six at-large teams are selected, the top four teams are No. 1 seeds and will be placed in the bracket so that if all four teams advance to the Women’s Frozen Four, the No. 1 seed will play the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed will play the No. 3 seed in the semifinals.
2. The next four are targeted as No. 2 seeds. The No. 5 overall seed will be designated as the top No. 2 seed since they get a first-round bye and would automatically play the No. 4 overall seed. The committee has determined they would like No. 4 to play No. 5 regardless of if they are from the same conference.
3. The next three teams are the other No. 2 seeds, and the last three teams will be designated as the No. 3 seeds.
4. The next step is to place the home teams. Assuming it meets the committee’s hosting criteria, the highest seeded team will be given the opportunity to host the regional games.
5. Next step is to fill in the bracket so that first-round conference matchups are avoided, unless it corrupts the integrity of the bracket. If four or more teams from one conference are selected to the championship in the final six spots so as to play in the first-round contests, then the integrity of the bracket will be protected (i.e., maintaining the pairing process according to seed will take priority over avoidance of first-round conference matchups).
6. To complete each site, the committee assigns one team from each of the remaining seeded groups so there is a No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 at three of the sites using its priorities, while matching up the No. 4 and No. 5 overall seeds in a second-round matchup.
The NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee shall have the authority to modify its working principles related to the championship site assignment on a case-by-case basis.
Teams are not reseeded after the regional finals.
Which teams host in the regional finals?
The top four seeds, assuming their arenas meet NCAA criteria for hosting. Starting in the 2022 tournament, the top three seeds also will host a regional semifinal game.
A school that wants to host regional games at a facility where it has not played at least 10 home games in that season, the facility must be approved in advance by the committee.
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