Yesterday, we concluded Group Play in this year's Tournament. We started the month of July with 72 teams, and we've now narrowed that field down to 32 teams.
With about two weeks left in the tournament, I started to look at the standings, and realized that I was going to, to some degree, end up screwing over some team somewhere with this tournament (cue to Houston Rockets fans nodding sadly). I decided I didn't want the party to end prematurely.
As such, I am really only eliminating eight teams at the moment. The teams that finished in last place in each group are not participating in this stage of the tournament, partially because I didn't have space for them, but also as a cutoff point to keep the numbers pretty.
This part of the tournament will be a double-elimination single game tournament. That means either 62 or 63 games, depending on the result of the championship game, since one loss won't knock a team out. I am seeding this field similarly to how I am seeding the championship bracket, which will be released tomorrow, in that finish in the group standings will be the first factor in ranking teams. All of the fifth place teams will take up the top eight seeds, then all sixth place teams, and so on. From there, ties will be broken by record, then point differential and finally, if necessary, by average seed of the other three teams in the group. Point differential will eliminate most of the problems, but I wanted to make sure I had a fallback if necessary.
So without further ado, here is the field for the Consolation Bracket of the NBA/ABA Tournament of Champions.
5th Place Teams: 1995 Houston Rockets, 1986 Boston Celtics, 2010 Los Angeles Lakers, 1988 Los Angeles Lakers, 1966 Boston Celtics, 1993 Chicago Bulls, 1971 Utah Stars, 1981 Boston Celtics
6th Place Teams: 1998 Chicago Bulls, 2006 Miami Heat, 2000 Los Angeles Lakers, 1975 Golden State Warriors, 1969 Boston Celtics, 1994 Houston Rockets, 1972 Indiana Pacers, 1962 Boston Celtics
7th Place Teams: 1979 Seattle Supersonics, 1973 New York Knicks, 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, 1969 Oakland Oaks, 1999 San Antonio Spurs, 1963 Boston Celtics, 1960 Boston Celtics, 1970 Indiana Pacers
8th Place Teams: 2004 Detroit Pistons, 1976 Boston Celtics, 1956 Philadelphia Warriors, 1973 Indiana Pacers, 1959 Boston Celtics, 1974 Boston Celtics, 1958 St. Louis Hawks, 1961 Boston Celtics
To view the Consolation Bracket, click here.
I ordered the teams in each row by their status amongst the tiebreakers, and then they are playing in a 1-32, 16-17, etc. order. This tournament is being played over the course of 15-16 days while the being-revealed tomorrow Elimination Stage is playing its Round of 32. The first two days will evenly split all first round games, Day 3 will see the eight loser bracket games be played, followed by the second round out of the winner's bracket on Day 4. From there, we will go two days in the loser bracket followed by a round from the winner's bracket. This maximizes rest for the teams that win, while the teams that lose have to play some back-to-backs.
Home court advantage for these one-offs will go to the higher seed for the first 61 games of the tournament. In Game 62, the team that came out of the Winner's Bracket will get to host. If they lose and it goes to a Game 63, the team that came out of the Loser's Bracket will get to host. This rewards the team that ran the table at the start with a chance to clinch at home, and "punishes" them if they lose by forcing them on the road.
I will have posts for each individual day up on here with the results of each game. Good luck to these teams, and check back tomorrow for the Elimination Stage bracket!
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