When the Colonial League boys and girls basketball tournaments begin in a little more than two weeks, 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 is in the best position at securing a bye for the tournament. The Falcons (11-0 in the Colonial League as of Wednesday) represent the lone unbeaten squad in the Colonial League.Palmerton is in a similar position on the girls' side. The Blue Bombers, 9-2 in conference play, sit in third place and just a half game out of a bye themselves."On our side the two teams that we lost to Southern Lehigh is in first and Salisbury is in third we play them," Palmerton girls head coach Rodney Strohl said. "Playing them, we have a little bit in our hands here to do well. If we can beat them, that will put us in a good spot. We could possibly go to first."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.Both Northwestern teams are in that position.The girls (6-5 in conference) are currently the first team out of the league playoffs. The next two weeks, which includes two games against current playoff teams, figure to be critical.The boys, on the other hand, sit at 4-7 in the Colonial League and are still vying for a spot in the tournament. They're just on the outskirts of the current playoff field, but with six teams holding records between 4-7 and 3-8, the race is still wide open."With a struggling program like our boys program, that could be a deciding moment in your program," Zimmerman said. "They have a lot to play for [whereas] before they were just basically trying to get to .500 to get to districts."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.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.**********HITTING THE CENTURY MARK ... On Jan. 20 against Jim Thorpe, Lehighton senior forward Tyler Crum scored his 1,000th career point. Crum finished the contest with 14 points, as the Indians rolled past the Olympians, 77-36.Crum became just the eighth boys player in Lehighton history to reach the coveted milestone. The last Indian boys player to hit 1,000 was Danny Miller back in 2004.**********CLOSE CALLS ... Although the Pleasant Valley boys' basketball squad doesn't have a winning record, don't let its record be deceiving. The Bears (5-11) have played five games that have been decided by four points or less this season. Pleasant Valley has played two overtime contests one against Allen, which went to triple overtime.**********MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME ... The Marian Catholic girls' basketball team is putting together another impressive campaign despite unfortunate injuries to impact players. The Fillies are an impressive 3-0 at home against Schuylkill League opponents this season, with wins on their home court against Shenandoah Valley, Nativity, and Tri-Valley.**********ROAD WARRIORS ... The Palmerton girls' basketball team is having an outstanding 2014-15 season, and some of that is due to the success they've had on the road. The Lady Bombers are a cool 6-1 away from the Palmerton gymnasium.