Game Status Workflow

Intro

Every NCAA Men's Basketball game travels through various statuses in its lifecycle. Leverage the game status to inform on the appropriate endpoint to retrieve.

Game status is available in every Schedule and Game endpoint. To retrieve a game's initial status and schedule information it would be most appropriate to request the Schedule or Daily Schedule endpoints.

<game id="13933b58-e1b9-4048-a64a-22a481a31f1b" status="closed" coverage="extended_boxscore" scheduled="2023-11-06T16:00:00Z" home_points="70" away_points="63" conference_game="false" home_team="90ec10eb-38a4-4a69-b072-ef71d294933b" away_team="eefdbf95-7df7-471d-96c6-bb33adff0197">
  <time_zones venue="US/Eastern" home="US/Eastern"/>
  <venue id="dbd763f5-27b5-428b-a655-276929ec571f" name="Indiana Farmers Coliseum" capacity="6500" address="1202 E 38th Street" city="Indianapolis" state="IN" zip="46205" country="USA">
    <location lat="39.8276805" lng="-86.1371959"/>
  </venue>
  <home name="IUPUI Jaguars" alias="IUPU" id="90ec10eb-38a4-4a69-b072-ef71d294933b"/>
  <away name="Spalding Golden Eagles" alias="SPAL" id="eefdbf95-7df7-471d-96c6-bb33adff0197"/>
</game>

{
  "games": [
    {
      "id": "13933b58-e1b9-4048-a64a-22a481a31f1b",
      "status": "closed",
      "coverage": "extended_boxscore",
      "scheduled": "2023-11-06T16:00:00Z",
      "home_points": 70,
      "away_points": 63,
      "conference_game": false,
      "time_zones": {
        "venue": "US/Eastern",
        "home": "US/Eastern"
      },
      "venue": {
        "id": "dbd763f5-27b5-428b-a655-276929ec571f",
        "name": "Indiana Farmers Coliseum",
        "capacity": 6500,
        "address": "1202 E 38th Street",
        "city": "Indianapolis",
        "state": "IN",
        "zip": "46205",
        "country": "USA",
        "location": {
          "lat": "39.8276805",
          "lng": "-86.1371959"
        }
      },
      "broadcasts": [
        {
          "network": "ESPN+",
          "type": "Internet"
        }
      ],
      "home": {
        "name": "IUPUI Jaguars",
        "alias": "IUPU",
        "id": "90ec10eb-38a4-4a69-b072-ef71d294933b"
      },
      "away": {
        "name": "Spalding Golden Eagles",
        "alias": "SPAL",
        "id": "eefdbf95-7df7-471d-96c6-bb33adff0197"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Coverage Levels

Game Status Definitions

Below are each of the valid game statuses you can expect to see in the NCAAMB API. Reference these definitions for precise detail on what each game state signifies.

• scheduled - The game is scheduled to occur.
• created – The game has been created and we have begun logging information.
• inprogress – The game is in progress.
• halftime - The game is currently at halftime.
• complete – The game is over, but stat validation is not complete.
• closed – The game is over and the stats have been validated.
• cancelled – The game has been cancelled. No makeup game will be played as a result.
• delayed – The start of the game is currently delayed or the game has gone from in progress to delayed for some reason.
• postponed – The game has been postponed, to be made up at another day and time. Once the makeup game is announced, a new game and ID will be created and scheduled on the announced makeup date.
• time-tbd – The game has been scheduled, but a time has yet to be announced.
• if-necessary – The game will be scheduled if it is required.
• unnecessary – The series game was scheduled to occur, but will not take place due to one team clinching the series early.
• forfeited – The game has been forfeited by one of the scheduled teams and is considered complete.

Game Workflows

See the below diagrams for common game status flows, with context around each update.

Standard Game

Below is the flow for a typical NCAAMB game from scheduled to closed.

Time-TBD

Below is the flow of a time-tbd game. Once this game reaches scheduled status it follows the Standard Game flow.

Delayed

Below is the flow of a delayed game.

A game can be delayed before it starts or during play. Once a delayed game moves to inprogress it follows the Standard Game flow.

Postponed

Below is the flow of a postponed game.

Once a new game is created in scheduled status, it follows the Standard Game flow.

Cancelled

Below is the flow of a cancelled game.

A cancelled game will remain in cancelled status. See game a826e67a-17ce-4a9e-b031-ec26ad3b558a as an example.

Forfeited

Below is the flow of a forfeited game.

See game 2af28de9-6fdf-4d01-ba28-5fdeb2e1d2ae (NCAA Women's) as an example.

Game State Samples

Click the links below for sample data of Game feeds by game state.

• inprogress
• closed

Weekly Data Entry

This section provides important NCAAMB data update timings for schedules, statistics, rankings, and more.

The core data entry workflow runs every day of the week:

• Final game times and coverage levels set for the day's games (10am CT)
• Game stats validated and moved to closed status (on average, 90 minutes after the game goes final)

Day-specific additions:

• Monday: Weekly AP and USA Today Top 25 Polls created (5pm CT); initial coverage levels set for the week's games, Monday through Sunday (5pm CT, levels subject to change); TV broadcast information updated (end of day)
• Monday through Wednesday: Seasonal stats validation (all day)

Important Dates & Timings

• The NCAA Men's Basketball schedule becomes available by late October.
• All game times and dates are monitored and validated throughout the season and confirmed the day of the game.
• Coverage levels are set prior to the start of each week and re-affirmed each morning.