PFD_Semifinal_Bracket

1) Each school will be able to select one team that will be guaranteed to be in the bracket, regardless of ranking. That team must still meet round eligibility. **This team must be selected before leaving the last regular contest.** Generally, this is only used in special cases (e.g. seniors you want to reward, team who may have dealt with illness, etc.). A strategic note: locking in a weak team only gives an easier matchup to their opponent in the double-octo round. If you do not select a team, we will default to a team's highest ranked squad.

2) The rest of the bracket (up to 32 teams) will be filled by teams based on their ranking (win percentage, number of wins, point average).

3) A list will be sent out of what teams are currently "in" the bracket (hopefully Thursday). If a school knows that a team will not be competing at semifinals, please let Tom Gushue know via email as soon as possible, and he will inform the next ranked team's coach that they will be able to compete at semifinals.

4) The bracket is a standard seeded bracket (think NCAA tournament): 1 vs. 32, 2, vs. 31, etc. and is set before anyone walks in the door. At no point will the bracket be reseeded, and if a team fails to show up, it will simply be a bye win for their opponent (this happened in the past).

5) The bracket will be split over the first two rounds. In round 1 (will be called "1A"), 8 of the 16 matchups will take place. In round 2 (will be called "1B" to hopefully avoid confusion), the other 8 double-octofinal matchups will take place. **PLEASE INFORM YOUR STUDENTS THAT IF THEY ARE NOT ON THE ROUND 1A SCHEMATIC, THEY WILL BE COMPETING IN ROUND 1B, AND VICE-VERSA.** After that split round of 32, a round of 16 will occur (in the "round 3" timeslot), leaving us with 8 teams headed to New Hope for finals.