Report: 2022 NCAA Tournament will feature replacement policy

The 2022 men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments will feature a team-replacement policy, to be used in an emergency, according to CBS Sports analyst Matt Norlander. The system of selecting alternate teams was first used in 2021 to combat the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 68-team field.

According to an NCAA document acquired by Norlander, the top four NIT teams will be seeded in order and serve as replacement teams as needed in the first round of the tournament if necessary. The bracket will not be reseeded if replacement teams are required, and the replacement team would slot directly into the hole left by the impacted team.

While the NCAA plans to use NIT teams as replacement candidates, it also expressed a desire to include each member conference if possible. Any conference who loses their only representative will have the opportunity to replace that team with a preapproved contingency replacement team.

As part of its explanation for the seeding of teams not selected for the NCAA Tournament, the document says no first-round opponent will be put at a disadvantage because, “all four replacement teams would have been seeded as a First Four team had they initially been selected as an at-large team” and, “because the replacement team would be either a comparable or lower-seeded team.”

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With Selection Sunday fast approaching on March 13, the industry’s top bracket experts continue updating their projected field with a look at the team who could make up the NCAA’s list of possible replacements.

On3’s Eric Prisbell places Michigan, Memphis, North Carolina and VCU in the First Four, but does not take a deep dive into the first four left out. However, a slip up over the coming week by any of those four could place them in that category.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi updated his field on Wednesday morning, listing Creighton, Memphis, Indiana and Rutgers as the First Four teams who will play in Dayton. His first four out features Loyola Chicago, BYU, SMU and Oregon with VCU, Virginia Tech, Florida and Dayton in the next four out. The other teams in the mix to climb into contention include Virginia, St. Bonaventure and Mississippi State.

CBS Sports bracket expert Jerry Palm has Michigan, Memphis, Florida and VCU in the field if the season ended today. Others on his radar for the final four spots include Wake Forest, North Carolina, Oregon and Indiana.