
We used to play out the consolation brackets. It still presented the same problems. Many teams, once they lose in the winners bracket, don't really care where they finish. Playing for 8th place vs. 12th place just doesn't motivate the same way as playing for a national championship, and we found that most teams still treated those games more like scrimmages. It would also require playing at least one consolation game on Saturday, something we've worked hard to avoid in order to place the entire emphasis of the day on the three championship games. Also, by playing out the brackets some teams could end up playing a conference opponent again for the third or even fourth time in the season. We've found teams have been more interested in playing consolation round games against opponents selected in consultation with coaches and tournament staff, so more interesting matchups are guaranteed, whether or not both teams are taking the game seriously.