March Madness | Basketball | College Basketball Champioship | College Hoops | College Basketball Odds | March Madness Contest | College Odds

• HOME

• Bracket Contest 2008

• Sports News
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Rankings
• Live Scores

• College Hoops Basics
• How it Works?
• Tips
• Past Winners
• Glossary
• Final Four
• March Madness
• History
• Sports Articles

• Top 10 NCAA Title Games
• SEC teams positioning for March Madness
• 2008 March Madness and Final Four Schedules
• Mid-Major Madness: South Alabama

March Madness Basketball Basics - Final Four

A single governing body, known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (College), is charged with overseeing the 1,200 voluntary college and university members that comprise the association. Volunteers from the association's member schools manage the organization and make rules to ensure fairness among all intercollegiate athletics.

Among the 1,200 colleges and universities that make up the College, only 1,006 are considered active members. According to the College:

• An active member is a four-year college or university or a two-year, upper-level collegiate institution that has been accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency and duly elected to active membership under the provisions of the Association bylaws.

• Active members are allowed to compete in tournaments and other championship events.

• These 1,006 schools are divided into three categories and must follow rules specific to their division. Here are some of the factors that the College uses to delineate between the three divisions.

Division I

These schools must sponsor at least seven sports each for men and women, or six for men and eight for women, with two team sports for each gender. Men's and women's basketball teams must play all but two of their games against Division I teams, and men must play a third of their contests in their designated home arena. Schools have a minimum and maximum number of scholarships they can award. Of the three divisions, Division I is the most prominent and receives the most publicity.

Division II

These schools must sponsor at least four sports each for men and women, with two team sports for each gender. Men and women's basketball teams must play at least half of their games against Division I or Division II schools. There are no minimum home game requirements for this division.

Division III

- These schools must sponsor at least five sports each for men and women, with two team sports for each gender. Unlike Divisions I and II, Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships.

One of the College's duties is to organize the annual basketball tournament for men's and women's college basketball of each division. Each tournament is based on a single-elimination format and it's known as Final Four Tournament or March Madness Tournament.

If you are considering be part of the bracket contest we have added more helpful information that may guide you:

To learn how final four college basketball works you may like to read these article We also have added 10 Tips if you are considering be part of the contest Also you can check past winners of the Final Four to have some references In case you found a term you don't know we have a glossary of Final four concepts and frecuently used words