<P> The tournament is divided into four regions and each region has at least sixteen teams, but four additional teams are added per the decision of the Selection Committee . (See: First Four, below .) The committee is charged with making each of the four regions as close as possible in overall quality of teams from wherever they come from . </P> <P> The names of the regions vary from year to year, and are broadly geographic (such as "West", "South", "East", and "Midwest"). From 1957 to 1984, the "Mideast", roughly corresponding to the Southeastern region of the United States, designation was used . From 1985 to 1998, the Mideast region was known as "Southeast" and again changed to "South" starting from 1999 . The selected names roughly correspond to the location of the four cities hosting the regional finals . From 2004 to 2006, the regions were named after their host cities, e.g. the Phoenix Regional in 2004, the Chicago Regional in 2005, and the Minneapolis Regional in 2006, but reverted to the traditional geographic designations beginning in 2007 . For example, during 2012, the regions were named South (Atlanta, Georgia), East (Boston, Massachusetts), Midwest (St. Louis, Missouri), and West (Phoenix, Arizona). </P> <P> The selection committee ranks the whole field of 68 teams from 1 to 68 . (It did not make this information public until 2012 .) The committee then divides the teams amongst the regions . The top four teams will be distributed among the four regions, and each will receive a No. 1 seed within that region . The next four ranked teams will then be distributed among the four regions, each receiving a No. 2 seed in their region, and the process continues down the line, with some exceptions (as is explained below). Carried to its logical conclusion, this would give each region seventeen teams--seeded from No. 1 to No. 17--but, each region has only sixteen teams (from No. 1 to No. 16). As can be seen below, the actual seeding depends on (among other factors) the rankings of the eight teams that the committee selects for the "First Four" opening round (see the next paragraph and the "First Four" section below). </P> <P> The selection committee is also instructed to place teams so that whenever possible, teams from the same conference cannot meet until the regional finals . Additionally, it is also instructed to avoid any possible rematches of regular - season or previous year's tournament games during the First and Second rounds . Further restrictions are listed in the Venues section below . To comply with these other requirements, the selection committee may move one or several teams up or down one seed from their respective original seed line . Thus, for example, the 40th overall ranked team, originally slated to be a No. 10 seed within a particular region, may instead be moved up to a No. 9 seed or moved down to a No. 11 seed . In addition, the rankings of the eight teams selected for the "First Four" play - in round will likewise affect the final seedlings . </P>

Why are there 65 teams in the ncaa tournament