An Automatic Playoff Bid

[carney2]

Can anyone cite chapter and verse on the NCAA rules for a conference receiving an automatic playoff bid? Why do some get it while others don't? What's the cutoff for number of football playing members? Etc.

[UAalum72]

Can anyone cite chapter and verse on the NCAA rules for a conference receiving an automatic playoff bid? Why do some get it while others don't? What's the cutoff for number of football playing members? Etc.
As of last October there was this (not necessarily just for football)
If you want to read the NCAA legalese: http://www.ncaa.org/library/members...6_d1_manual.pdf (http://www.ncaa.org/library/membership/division_i_manual/2005-06/2005-06_d1_manual.pdf)







31.3.4.2 Additional Requirements, Sports Other Than Men’s Basketball. To be considered eligible for automatic qualification in a particular sport, a multisport member conference must include six core institutions that satisfy continuity-of-membership. For the purposes of this legislation, core refers to an institution that has been an active member of Division I the eight preceding years. Further, the continuity-ofmembership requirement shall be met only if a minimum of six core institutions have conducted conference competition together in Division I the preceding two years in the applicable sport. There shall be no exceptions to the two-year waiting period. Any new member added to a member conference that satisfies the continuity of membership requirements shall be immediately eligible to represent the conference as the automatic qualifier. (Revised: 4/27/00, 10/00, 4/29/04 effective 8/1/04, 8/5/04)

As to which conferences get automatic bids, the sport's governing committee determines it, with appeals to the NCAA Management Council



31.3.4 Automatic Qualification. Each governing sports committee shall forward annually to the Management Council those conferences that should receive automatic qualification for their teams or individual student-athletes into NCAA championships. Prior to forwarding the list of conferences to receive automatic qualification, a governing sports committee shall ensure that the member conference meets the requirements specified in Bylaws 31.3.4.1 through 31.3.4.5. A member conference may appeal to the Management Council the automatic-qualification review of the sports committee and the committee’s decision to find, or not find, a conference qualified for automatic-qualification status. The decision of the Management Council on such appeals will be final. (Revised: 1/14/97 effective 8/1/97, 4/27/00)
A conference can lose its bid, as one must if a new conference gets one (unless they expand the playoff field)
31.3.4.1.1 Notification, Automatic Qualification in Jeopardy. A governing sports committee must issue a written warning one year in advance to a conference that is in jeopardy of losing its automatic qualification.