In the NCAA men's Division I basketball championship or the NCAA women's Division I basketball championship , the " Elite Eight " comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Division III , the Elite Eight consists of the two teams in each of the four regional championship games. The winners advance to the Final Four . Since 1997, when the NCAA trademarked the phrase, in Division II , the Elite Eight consists of the eight winners of the eight Division II regions. Like the Division I Final Four, the Division II Elite Eight games are all held in one predetermined location.
26-869: In the men's Division I, the lowest-seeded team ever to reach this round in the modern 64-team tournament era is No. 15 seed Saint Peter's University in 2022 . Two No. 12 seeds have advanced to the Elite Eight: Missouri in 2002 , and the Oregon State Beavers in 2021 . Ten No. 11 seeds have advanced to the Elite Eight: LSU ( 1986 ), Loyola Marymount ( 1990 ), Temple ( 2001 ), George Mason ( 2006 ), Virginia Commonwealth ( 2011 ), Dayton ( 2014 ), Xavier ( 2017 ), Loyola Chicago ( 2018 ), UCLA ( 2021 ), and North Carolina State (2024). There have only been four seasons where two double-digit-seeded teams have made it to
52-676: A week 1 poll. National League Division Series In Major League Baseball , the National League Division Series ( NLDS ) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series . The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring each of the two division winners with the best records and the winners of the wild-card play-offs. The Division Series
78-692: The 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . The Peacocks, led by fourth-year head coach Shaheen Holloway , played their home games at the Run Baby Run Arena in Jersey City, New Jersey , as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). They finished the season 22–12, 14–6 in MAAC play , to finish in second place. They defeated Fairfield and Quinnipiac in the MAAC tournament , advancing to
104-700: The COVID-19 pandemic . Eight teams qualified from the National League: the top two teams in each division plus the next two best records among the remaining teams. These eight teams played a best-of-three-game series to determine placement in the NLDS. The regular format returned for the 2021 season. As of 2021, the Atlanta Braves have currently played in the most NL division series with seventeen appearances. The St. Louis Cardinals have currently won
130-650: The Houston Astros , also in five games (the Astros were members of the National League until 2012). In 1994, it was returned permanently when Major League Baseball (MLB) restructured each league into three divisions, but with a different format than in 1981. Each of the division winners, along with one wild card team, qualify for the Division Series. Despite being planned for the 1994 season,
156-538: The MLBPA , MLB has decided to allow the team with the best record in the league that wins the All-Star Game to choose whether to use the seven-day schedule (1-2-off-3-4-off-5) or the eight-day schedule (1-off-2-off-3-4-off-5). The team only gets to choose the schedule; the opponent is still determined by win–loss records. Initially, the best-of-5 series played in a 2–3 format, with the first two games set at home for
182-492: The Wild Card Series between the top two wild card teams in one matchup, and the divisional winner with the second best winning percentage hosts the winner of the other Wild Card Series between the lowest-seeded divisional winner and the lowest-seeded wild card team. (From 2012 to 2021, the wild card team was assigned to play the divisional winner with the best winning percentage in the regular season in one series, and
208-509: The Elite Eight (2023). In men's play, the Elite Eight exists intact for less than 24 hours between the second Friday evening and the following Saturday afternoon of the tournament. The Elite Eight also represents the halfway mark of the men's tournament since each qualifying team must win three rounds (games) to reach the national quarterfinals, with three rounds remaining to reach and win the national championship game. Like "March Madness,"
234-475: The Elite Eight: 1990 (10 seed Texas and 11 seed LMU ); 2002 (12 seed Missouri and 10 seed Kent State ); 2021, where both were from the same conference (12 seed Oregon State and 11 seed UCLA ); and 2022 (10 seed Miami and 15 seed Saint Peter's ). On average, three of the four No. 1 seeds make it to the Elite Eight each year. There has only been one occurrence in history in which no No. 1 seeds made
260-487: The National League wild card, their first postseason berth since winning the American League East Division title in 1982 before switching leagues in 1998 . Milwaukee had competed in an American League Division Series in the strike-shortened 1981 season . The NLDS is a best-of-five series where the divisional winner with the best winning percentage in the regular season hosts the winner of
286-537: The Peacocks lost to No. 8 seed and eventual national runner-up North Carolina . On March 30, 2022, head coach and Seton Hall alum Shaheen Holloway left to take the head coaching position at his alma mater where he previously was an assistant from 2010 through 2018. On April 1, a parade was held in Jersey City to celebrate the Peacocks' tournament run. On April 5, Saint Peter's was ranked No. 24 nationally in
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#1732775596076312-530: The Sweet Sixteen, becoming only the third No. 15 seed and first MAAC men's team to make it to the second weekend. They defeated Purdue to advance to the Elite Eight, becoming the first No. 15 seed to do so. Following the victory, the score was shown on the jumbotron of Madison Square Garden during an NHL game between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins . In the Elite Eight,
338-572: The championship game. There they defeated Monmouth to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament , for the first time since 2011, as the No. 15 seed in the East region. The Peacocks defeated No. 2 seed Kentucky to become only the tenth No. 15 seed to upset a No. 2 seed in the tournament's history. They defeated Murray State to advance to
364-1017: The four major North American professional sports; i.e., the teams that reach the American League Division Series and the National League Division Series in Major League Baseball , the Divisional Playoffs in either conference of the National Football League , and the conference semi-finals in the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League . 2021%E2%80%9322 Saint Peter%27s Peacocks men%27s basketball team The 2021–22 Saint Peter's Peacocks men's basketball team represented Saint Peter's University in
390-565: The lower seed team and the last three for the higher seed. Since 1998 , the series has followed a 2–2–1 format, where the higher seed team plays at home in Games 1 and 2, the lower seed plays at home in Game 3 and Game 4 (if necessary), and if a Game 5 is needed, the teams return to the higher seed's field. When MLB added a second wild card team in 2012 , the Division Series re-adopted the 2–3 format due to scheduling conflicts. However, it reverted to
416-562: The most NL division series, winning eleven of the fourteen series in which they have played. The Pittsburgh Pirates (who finished with a losing record from 1993 to 2012) were the last team to make their first appearance in the NL division series, making their debut in 2013 after winning the 2013 National League Wild Card Game . In 2008 , the Milwaukee Brewers became the first team to play in division series in both leagues when they won
442-444: The other two division winners met in the other series. From 1998 to 2011, if the wild-card team and the division winner with the best record were from the same division, the wild-card team played the division winner with the second-best record, and the remaining two division leaders played each other.) The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven NLCS. According to Nate Silver , the advent of this playoff series, and especially of
468-647: The phrase "Elite Eight" originally referred to the Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship , the single-elimination high school basketball tournament run by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). When the IHSA finals were reduced from sixteen to eight teams in 1956, a replacement nickname for Sweet Sixteen was needed, and Elite Eight won popular favor. The IHSA trademarked
494-616: The post-season was cancelled that year due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike . In 1995, the first season to feature a division series, the Eastern Division champion Atlanta Braves defeated the wild card Colorado Rockies three games to one, while the Central Division champion Cincinnati Reds defeated the Western Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game sweep. From 1994 to 2011,
520-478: The season's final Coaches' Poll. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic , the Peacocks finished the 2020–21 season 14–11, 10–8 in MAAC play , to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 3 seed in the MAAC tournament , they defeated Rider in the quarterfinals before losing to Fairfield in the semifinals. Roster Last update: March 26, 2022 Sources *Coaches did not release
546-654: The term in 1995; the trademark rights are now held by the March Madness Athletic Association, a joint venture between the NCAA and IHSA formed after a 1996 court case allowed both organizations to use "March Madness" for their own tournaments. The Elite Eight can also refer to the eight NCAA Division I baseball teams that reach the College World Series . In addition, the term is often colloquially used to denote quarterfinalists in
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#1732775596076572-439: The wild card was given to the team in the National League with the best overall record that was not a division champion. Beginning with the 2012 season , a second wild card team was added, and the two wild card teams play a single-game playoff to determine which team would play in the NLDS. For the 2020 Major League Baseball season only, there was an expanded playoff format, owing to an abbreviated 60-game regular season due to
598-411: The wild card, has caused teams to focus more on "getting to the playoffs" rather than "winning the pennant" as the primary goal of the regular season. From 2012 to 2021, the wild card team that advances to the Division Series was to face the number 1 seed, regardless whether or not they are in the same division. The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven NLCS. Beginning with the 2022 season,
624-413: The wild-card team, which never receives the home-field advantage. Beginning in 2003, MLB has implemented a new rule to give the team with the best regular season record from the league that wins the All-Star Game a slightly greater advantage. In order to spread out the Division Series games for broadcast purposes, the two NLDS series follow one of two off-day schedules. Starting in 2007, after consulting
650-417: The winner between the lowest-ranked division winner and lowest-ranked wild card team faces the #2 seed division winner in the Division Series, while the 4 v. 5 wild card winner faces the #1 seed, as there is no reseeding even if the 6 seed wild card advances. Home-field advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record (or head-to-head record if there is a tie between two or more teams), except for
676-638: Was implemented in 1981 as a one-off tournament because of a midseason strike , with the first place teams before the strike taking on the teams in first place after the strike. In 1981, a split-season format forced the first ever divisional playoff series, in which the Montreal Expos won the Eastern Division series over the Philadelphia Phillies in five games while in the Western Division, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated
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