MAAC Basketball Tiebreaker Policy

MAAC Tie-Breaker Rules

Seedings for the MAAC Men's and Women's Basketball Championships shall be based on the order of finish in the standings.  Ties will be broken as follows:

Two-Way Tie
If there is a tie(s) for any place(s) in the standings, then the results of the in-season head-to-head competition shall be used to break that tie.

If two teams split their in-season games, then the committee shall use the best record against the highest-seeded remaining teams in descending order as the tiebreaker.

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 their own tie-breaking procedure).

If a tie still exists, then the commissioner or his designee shall use a coin toss to break the tie.

Multiple-Team Tie (3 or more teams)
Three or more teams tied are viewed as a "mini-conference" when comparing head-to-head results.  The team with the best record vs. the other teams in the mini-conference gains the advantage.  If all the teams in the mini-conference have the same mini-conference record, proceed to B below.  If two or more teams, but not all, have the same best record in the mini-conference, only those specific teams advance to the next tiebreaker step.

After the top team(s) in a mini-conference is determined, the next team is ranked by its record in the original mini-conference.  If there are two remaining teams tied by their record in the mini-conference, then head-to-head results will determine the higher seed.  If the teams split their games then proceed to B below.

If there are three or more teams remaining tied by their record in the mini-conference, they would then form a new mini-conference and follow the procedure again starting at A.

The next step in breaking all or part of a mini-conference tie is each team's record vs. the team occupying the highest position in the league, continuing down through the division standings until one team gains an advantage.

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 their own tie-breaking procedure).

If ties still exist, then the commissioner or his designee shall use a coin toss to break the tie.