One big change is coming to Selection Sunday, one of college basketball’s sacred holidays.
When viewers tune into ESPN for the bracket reveal next March, there will be some surprises that have been spoiled.
That’s because the NCAA Selection Committee is going to unveil the top 16 teams the night before, giving the schools who have earned the right to host games during the first weekend of March Madness an extra day to prepare. This announcement will also be made on ESPN.
Some suspense will still remain though. While the 16 teams who are hosting will be revealed on Saturday, their seed order won’t be unveiled until Sunday along with the rest of the 68-team field. The 16 teams who are hosting will be announced in alphabetical order.
The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee approved this change at their summer meeting last week in Philadelphia.
It’s worth mentioning that this selection announcement model — top 16 reveal a day before the full seed list and bracket — has been the norm for the NCAA’s Division I baseball tournament for many years.
While there has been much discussion about potentially expanding the field of March Madness, neither the men’s or women’s committees reached a decision on adding teams to the bracket.
“The committee’s comprehensive preliminary format review will continue through its October meeting,” a release from the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee said.
For now, expect the Division I women’s NCAA basketball tournament’s format to remain unchanged. First Four games will be still be played at campus sites, as will the first and second rounds of the tournament. The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight stages will be continue to be played at combined regional sites — this season, those are in Fort Worth, Texas and Sacramento, California — despite complaints from high-profile coaches.
“The committee continues to review and consider all championship elements,” said Amanda Braun, director of athletics at Milwaukee and chair of the committee in 2025-26. “The championship continues to grow in a variety of ways and by various metrics, that includes record attendance and broadcast ratings the last three years. The committee will continue to have additional discussion around these topics while considering the team, player and fan experiences and ensuring that the women’s basketball championship presents a solid business model.”
One change that will factor into which teams get to play in the NCAA Tournament is that the committee is adding the WAB (Wins Above Bubble) evaluation metric to its selection criteria.
“We believe that the WAB will be an important tool to help objectively see the value of each win and loss and how to best evaluate and emphasize a team’s strength of schedule and results,” Braun said. “Whether it’s a non-conference or conference game, no matter the scoring margin, the WAB is going to tell us a lot about what a team did against the schedule they played.”
