HOW TEAMS ADVANCE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND GIRLS GRC

PICTURED: 2024 17U GymRat CHALLENGE MVP RYAN CARTER rises and scores for EXODUS EYBL. The do-everything combo guard is ranked by ESPN as the #8 player nationally in a LOADED class of 2027 and is sitting on high major offers from Ohio State, Louisville, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin among many others. (Photo, Dan Fritz, GymRat Staff)

The outline below provides the criteria for advancing to the GymRat CHALLENGE Championship Round. All CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND games will be played with 14 minute stop time halves. The Championship Round is a single elimination play-off in order to crown one champion in each qualifying bracket of each Age Division. Teams EARN their way into the Championship Round, and are objectively seeded for Championship Round play, based on the Pool Play performance and the formulas outlined below.

Championship Round play is HIGHLY competitive and intense. Because of the intensely high level of competition, multiple overtime games have become the norm. In order to claim a GymRat CHALLENGE Championship, teams must demonstrate a high level of skill and will. Every effort will be made to keep games on schedule, but because of the strong likelihood for overtime games, TEAMS ADVANCING TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND SHOULD BUILD FLEXIBILITY INTO THEIR TRAVEL PLANS.

POOL PLAY ends on the morning of the final day of competition. For POOL CHAMPIONS and qualifying WILDCARD teams, the bracketed, single-elimination CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND begins on the early afternoon of that day.
Teams qualifying for the CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND will play a MINIMUM of one game and a MAXIMUM of three additional games in pursuit of a GymRat CHALLENGE Championship.
Winners in all brackets will receive national recognition and will be highlighted in the GymRat REPORT that is available to every college program in the country as well as all competing teams and players through the GymRat RECRUITING INDEX.
Further Championship Round details include:
- Pool Champions and potential Wildcard teams are seeded into CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND play based on the criteria outlined below in the HOW TEAMS ADVANCE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Qualifying teams will be grouped into 6-team brackets based on seed
- PLATIMUN Bracket: Seeds #1-6
- GOLD Bracket: Seeds #7-12
- SILVER Bracket: Seeds #13-18
- BRONZE Bracket: Seeds #19-24
- COPPER Bracket: Seeds #25-30
Top two seeds in each bracket receive a bye into the semi-final round

The GymRat CHALLENGE has an online scoring system in place that automatically updates Pool standings and Championship Round rankings when scores are entered at the end of each game by Court Supervisors and Age Division Directors.

All game results and Championship Round rankings are posted to the GymRat Application Site at https://gymratchallenge.com/gymrat/ .Once the event begins, two buttons appear under the event logo. The POOL PLAY button will provide scores of all games. The CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND button will provide a the rankings of all teams pertaining to advancement into the Championship Round. Those rankings are NOT complete until ALL Pool Play games have been concluded and reported into the system.

SEEDING

When Pool Play has been completed in each age division, Championship Round teams will be re-seeded based on the following format: Pool Champions will receive SEEDING numbers 1 through x (with “x” representing the total number of pools in the age division) based on the formula outlined in the SEEDING OF POOL CHAMPIONS and WILCARD sections below. If teams are tied WITHIN a Pool, the Champion will be determined using the POOL CHAMPION TIE BREAKER FORMULA detailed below:

POOL CHAMPION TIE BREAKER FORMULA

(Example SCENARIOS below)

In any situation where two (2) teams are tied, head-to-head competition will determine the winner.
If more than two teams tie, a point differential tie-breaker will be applied. The point differentials of the teams involved in the tie are totaled. Teams are then ranked according to the sum of the point differential. The maximum that you can beat a team and still gain an advantage is 20 points. Blowouts are NOT encouraged. (View SCENARIO #1 below)
If more than two (2) teams are still tied after the application of the formula, the point differentials of the teams not involved in the tie are added, and the results recalculated.(View SCENARIO #2 below)
The score of all forfeits shall be 20-0.

SEEDING OF POOL CHAMPIONS

Won-Loss record during Pool Play
Overall Point Differential: Teams will then be ranked based on the sum of the point differential in their Pool play games. The maximum that you can beat a team and still gain an advantage is 20 points. Blowouts are NOT Therefore, the best possible SEEDING position is an undefeated Pool Play record and a Point Differential rating of 20 * the number of Pool Play games (+60 for a three Pool Play games, +80 for four Pool Play game, +100 for five Pool Play games). The score of all forfeits shall be 20-0.
If two or more teams are tied after the first two criteria have been applied, the following ordered criteria will be used to determine final SEEDING*:
Total points allowed in pool play.
Total points allowed vs. teams with one loss within Pool play.
Total points allowed vs. teams with two losses within Pool play.
Total points allowed vs. teams with three losses within Pool play.
Total points allowed vs. teams with four losses within Pool play.
Total points allowed vs. teams with five losses within Pool play.
If two teams remain tied, a coin toss will break the tie. If more than two teams are tied, a lottery drawing will determine final SEEDING.

WILDCARDS

Between 0-8 “WILDCARDS” from each Age Division will be chosen to compete in the Championship Round. The “WILDCARD” representatives will receive SEEDs #x+1 (with x representing the total # of POOLS in the Age Division) through the last seed (defined as Total Number of POOLS in the Age Division plus Total Number of WILDCARDS in the Age Division). WILDCARDS will be selected and seeded using the following ordered criteria:

Won-Loss record during Pool play
Record vs. Pool Champion.
Overall Point Differential as detailed above.
Point Differential vs. Pool Champion. (20 point maximum applies)
Point Differential vs. teams with ONE loss during Pool Play. (20-point max. applies)
Point Differential vs. teams with TWO losses during Pool Play. (20-point max. applies)
Point Differential vs. teams with THREE losses during Pool Play. (20-point max. applies)
Point Differential vs. teams with FOUR losses during Pool Play. (20-point max. applies)
Point Differential vs. teams with FIVE losses during Pool Play. (20-point max. applies)
Total points allowed in pool play*.
Coin Toss

FACTORING OF FORFEITS

In the RARE case that a forfeit occurs, the score of all forfeits shall be 20-0.
In any case when the TOTAL POINTS ALLOWED calculation comes into play IN CONJUNCTION WITH FORFEITS, the following shall apply:
Teams involved in forfeits will have the TOTAL POINTS ALLOWED in their non-forfeit games AVERAGED. This POINTS ALLOWED average will be combined with the non-forfeit totals to determine the TOTAL POINTS allowed. For example:
- Team A wins game #1 by a score of 65-50, loses game #2 by a score of 48-60, and wins game #3 by forfeit.
- The average of the POINTS ALLOWED during the two non-forfeit games is taken [(50 + 60)/2 = 55]
- This average is then added to the actual points allowed during the non-forfeit games in order to determine the TOTAL POINTS ALLOWED
In this case, TOTAL POINTS ALLOWED equals 165 (50 + 60 + 55)
This action is taken in order to arrive at a more realistic TOTAL POINTS ALLOWED figure, as opposed to simply calculating a 0 points allowed as a result of forfeit. While the 20 point differential awarded in the case of forfeits is a plausible possibility, the 0 points allowed is not plausible and could lead to inequities in Championship Round SEEDING and/or WILDCARD Team selection