When the Colonial League boys and girls basketball tournaments begin in a little less than a week, the setup will look a bit different.

With the addition of Moravian Academy to a number of Colonial League sports, including boys and girls basketball, the tournament now includes six teams compared to four in previous years. Additionally, there will be a wildcard round where the two top teams receive byes.

One of the biggest reasons for the jump to six teams was due to the uneven number of division teams. The West Division remains the same as in previous years with six, but the inclusion of Moravian Academy now adds up to seven squads in the East.

"With a 13th team, both divisions don't play the same amount of contests," said Bryan Geist, Colonial League President and Northern Lehigh Athletic Director. "In the East you play 18 games, and in the West you play 17 games. There is an uneven amount of games. Our concern was the No. 5 team missing by a half game, and the way to take care of that is to bring six in."

The newly formatted tournaments now provide more teams with an opportunity to fight for a league championship.

"It's getting more exposure to our Colonial League schools," Northwestern Athletic Director Jason Zimmerman said. "Probably so many times you see just because a team might be in a stronger division, you might have a team that is a division champion with four losses and a team with two losses sitting on the outside looking in."

Clinching a top-two seed in the tournament didn't offer any positives in the past, especially with those matchups held at neutral sites. With the new format, striving for the first or second seed has become more coveted.

In prior years, any team that won the league championship would have to win two games. This season, it will take three victories to be named Colonial League champs, other than for the top two teams.

"In the past, there really was no benefit to being the top two seeds other than what color uniform you got to wear," Geist said. "You still had to play a quality opponent. This way if you're a top-two team, you get a bye and you get to watch the winner of the two teams you're going to play."

The Salisbury boys basketball team seems to have secured bye for the tournament. The Falcons (15-0 in the Colonial League as of Tuesday) represent the lone unbeaten squad in the Colonial League.

Striving for a third and fourth seed in the tournament also has its benefits. Those teams will host their wildcard matchups instead of a neutral site. The semifinals and finals will go back to neutral venues.

Across the board, more meaningful games figure to be played down the stretch than in recent years. Particularly with the middle of the standings being so crowded on both sides, a game or two could make all of the difference whether a team qualifies for leagues or not.

With the division winners and top four teams qualifying for the tournament, the teams will be reseeded once the field is set. The top two squads based on win-loss records, not division winners, are awarded first-round byes.

As of Tuesday, it looks like four teams could come out of the boys East Division with Bangor (13-3) and Saucon Valley (12-4) followed by Palisades at 9-7 and Wilson at 8-7. In West Division, Southern Lehigh (12-2) is behind the Falcons.

On the girls side, Notre Dame (15-2), Saucon Valley (11-5) and Palisades (10-6) lead the way in the East with Southern Lehigh (13-1), Palmerton (13-2) and Salisbury (11-4) looking good in the West. Northwestern, at 9-6) is battling with Palisades for perhaps the final spot.

The wildcard round is set for Saturday, Feb. 7. The girls semifinals will be held the following Tuesday, Feb. 10, the boys semifinals will be Wednesday, Feb. 11 with the championship game coming on Friday, Feb. 13.