Game Status Workflow

Intro

Every NCAA Men's Basketball (NCAAMB) 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">
        </home>
        <away name="Spalding Golden Eagles" alias="SPAL" id="eefdbf95-7df7-471d-96c6-bb33adff0197">
        </away>

{
"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

We provide two coverage levels to ensure the most comprehensive data offering.

Full – We provide live play-by-play coverage for the entire game. We provide scores and time remaining, as well as team- and player-level data in near real time. Full coverage is available for any game in which we have a reliable broadcast available and one or more participants are members of the following conferences: B1G, Big East, Big 12, ACC, SEC, A10, MVC, WCC, AAC, MW, MAC, CUSA, Colonial & Patriot.

Extended Boxscore – We provide scores and time remaining, in a timely manner, as a game progresses. We provide team- and player-level data for a game within 60 minutes of an official gamebook release. Extended Boxscore coverage is available for any game involving a Division I program, not covered via our full coverage offering.

All conference tournament games available from a reliable broadcast are full play-by-play coverage.

All March Madness and NIT games are full play-by-play coverage. CBI and CIT games are extended_boxscore coverage.

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Coverage Note

Coverage levels are subject to change up to the scheduled game start time. Changes are usually due to resource availability or possible broadcast and technical difficulties.

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.

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.

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Time from Complete to Closed

It takes an average of 90 minutes for a College Basketball game to move from Complete 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.

Postponed

Below is the flow of a postponed game.

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

Suspended

Below is the flow of a suspended game.

Once a suspended game moves back to inprogress 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.

Game State Samples

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

• inprogress
• closed

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Simulations

We would also suggest using our Simulations to view each of these game states and test your integration.

Weekly Data Entry

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

Click on the days of the week below to view the data entry workflow for each day.