• OVC Basketball Tiebreakers | OVC Basketball Championship Website
When Lindenwood and Southern Indiana joined the OVC prior to the 2022-23 school year, policies were put into place regarding automatic qualifiers for NCAA Championships as each school is in a four-year reclassification process to Division I and ineligible for NCAA operated events.
Below is the policy as it relates to men's and women's basketball:
The Conference automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I Basketball Tournaments shall be determined by Conference tournaments at the conclusion of the regular season. If a member transitioning from Division II to Division I wins the championship and is not eligible to represent the conference in an NCAA tournament, the tournament runner-up shall be the conference AQ representative. Should the runner-up also not be eligible or unable to participate, the AQ representative shall be the semifinalist that had the highest remaining seed going into the tournament.
Below is a look at national postseason opportunities for Division I basketball teams. This year saw the addition of the WBIT for women's basketball, an event run by the NCAA.
The WNIT event is not operated by the NCAA and does accept transitioning schools; as result of winning of OVC regular season championship, the Southern Indiana women's basketball team will compete in the WNIT this season.
Men’s Postseason Opportunities
• NCAA Tournament – 68 teams
• NIT – 32 teams (regular season champion no longer gets an automatic bid if they lose in conference tournament; transitioning teams are NOT eligible as it is operated by the NCAA)
• College Basketball Invitational (CBI) – 16 teams (transitioning teams ARE eligible, not operated by the NCAA)
Women’s Postseason Opportunities
• NCAA Tournament – 68 teams
• WBIT – 32 teams (transitioning teams are NOT eligible as event is operated by the NCAA)
• WNIT – 48 teams (transitioning teams ARE eligible, at least one OVC team will earn an AQ; not operated by the NCAA)