The selection committee for the women’s NCAA tournament will release the seed list for the entire field starting in 2025.
The NCAA announced Friday that it would reveal how the entire field was seeded by the selection committee like the men’s selection committee does after its field is announced on Selection Sunday. Selection committee chair and Arkansas deputy athletic director Derita Dawkins said the move was made for “additional transparency.”
“The committee felt that it was the right time for women’s basketball and our championship to reveal the entire championship field seed list,” Dawkins said in a statement. “Providing the full seed list on Selection Sunday will provide additional transparency to the bracketing processes. The move to quadrant-based team sheets will be beneficial to the committee in sorting team data relative to the selection and bracketing processes.”
The quadrant-based process is designed for the committee to have a better idea of team strength when seeding the field. The men’s selection committee uses a quad-based process that divides wins and losses into four categories based on the strength of an opponent and where the game was played.
The women’s tournament will also rely on a team’s overall record when seeding the tournament instead of breaking its won-loss record into conference and non-conference records.
Additionally, the NCAA is keeping the current women’s tournament hosting process in place. The first and second rounds have been played on the home courts of the top 16 seeds. Those teams will continue to host the first two rounds after the NCAA reviewed the feasibility of moving every tournament game to neutral sites like the men’s tournament.
“The women’s basketball championship has enjoyed tremendous success over the last couple of years, with record-breaking attendance and television ratings during March Madness,” Dawkins said. “The current preliminary-round format is providing an elevated student-athlete and fan championship experience. We feel good about the growth of the championship and where we are positioned. The format review will include membership and stakeholder feedback, with the goal of making sure we consider all additional format options for a future analysis.”
