TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURES
Seeding
The two teams with the highest conference winning percentage in eadh division shall be seeded #1 and #2. If there is a tie atop the division standings, the tie within the division shall be broken first to determine the two teams that will be seeded #1 and #2. The division leader with the higher winning percentage shall be seeded #1. If the two division leaders are tied in winning percentage, the tiebreaking procedure(s) below shall be used to break the tie.
After the division leaders are seeded, seeds #3 through #10 shall be determined based on overall conference winning percentage, regardless of division. In the event of a tie for a particular seed, the seed will be determined as follows:
Two Teams
- Highest winning percentage of head-to-head competition during the regular season.
- Each teams’ winning percentage vs. the team occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings, and then continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.
- When considering a team that was not played against in the regular conference season, the record against the team is 0/0 = 0.000.
- When arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie-breaking procedure), rather than the performance against individual tied teams. If a team in the group was not played against in the regular season, the 0/0 would be included, but would have no real effect as the winning percentage would be impacted only by the teams played against.
- If the records are the same against all teams, then the seeded position would be determined by a toss of the coin by the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner.
Three or More Teams
- Highest winning percentage of the tied teams against each other is first considered.
- Each teams’ winning percentage vs. the team occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings, and then continuing down through the standings until one teams gains an advantage.
- When considering a team that was not played against in the regular conference season, the record against the team is 0/0 = 0.000.
- When arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie-breaking procedure), rather than the performance against individual tied teams. If a team in the group was not played against in the regular season, the 0/0 would be included, but would have no real effect as the winning percentage would be impacted only by the teams played against.
- If there is still a tie, the seeded position of the teams will be determined by a draw conducted by the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner.
- For all ties involving three or more teams, once the tie is broken and the highest-seeded team is determined, the remaining tied teams will revert back to the beginning of the applicable tiebreaker.