What expansion means for the Women's NCAA Tournament: All about the new schedule, payouts, host sites and more

Plus, top coaches in the women's game weigh in on the changes

Last Thursday, the Division I men's and women's basketball committees unanimously voted to expand the NCAA Tournament from 68 to 76 teams starting in 2027. CBS Sports' Matt Norlander has a full breakdown of how the decision was made. 

This is the first expansion for the men's tournament since 2011, when the field expanded from 65 to 68 teams, but the women's tournament has seen expansion much more recently. In 2022, the women's field went from 64 teams to 68. That was the same year that the NCAA finally permitted the women's tournament to use the "March Madness" branding. 

"The growth of women's basketball has been phenomenal in recent years, and we are pleased to be able to offer additional opportunities to the student-athletes and teams that earn them," read a statement from Division I Women's Basketball Committee Chair Amanda Braun, the athletics director at Milwaukee. "The committees took our charge seriously, and we believe this is responsible stewardship of the championship."

This is the first time that expansion of the women's tournament is taking place in conjunction with the expansion of the men's tournament. But what, exactly, does this particular expansion mean for the women's tournament, which has seen an explosion in ratings, attendance and popularity in recent years? Here's everything you need to know. 

What will the new bracket look like?

The bracket for the women's and men's tournaments will still look identical to one another, but they will look quite different than we're used to. 

Your bracket just got a whole lot tougher.#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/xk9Tmi12MG

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) May 7, 2026

On Selection Sunday, only 52 teams will be placed into the traditional bracket, which begins with the first round. The other 24 teams will play in a 12-game "Opening Round," which will now replace the First Four. The opening round will feature the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams.

Essentially, there will now be eight No. 16 seeds, six No. 15 seeds, eight No. 12 seeds and six No. 11 seeds announced on Selection Sunday. Two No. 15 seeds and two No. 11 seeds will be slotted right into the first round against No. 2 and No. 6 seeds, respectively. The other 24 teams will face off for a chance to make the field of 64.

Breaking down the expansion #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/2MwaD2OaZc

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) May 7, 2026

In the women's tournament, all of these games will be played on the Wednesday and Thursday before the first round begins on Friday.

Where will the opening-round women's games be played?

The men's opening round will take place in two locations -- Dayton, Ohio, the host of the First Four since 2011, and a yet-to-be-named neutral site.

But on the women's side, the 12 games will take place at 12 different campuses across the country. The women's tournament does not have neutral-site hosts for the first weekend of the NCAA tournaments. Rather, the top 16 seeds all host first and second-round games on their home courts. Since 2022, four of the top 16 seeds have also hosted First Four games. Now, 12 of the 16 schools will host opening-round games.

The committee will aim to keep the matchups between teams that are the closest to the overall seeding, meaning the No. 75 overall seed would likely face the No. 76 seed. The NCAA does make exceptions to that for travel purposes or to avoid regular-season rematches.

What will the schedule for the 2027 Women's NCAA Tournament look like?

The overall schedule and footprint of the tournament will not change. The only difference is that there will be six games played per day on the Wednesday and Thursday after Selection Sunday, as opposed to two games per day.

Here is the 2027 schedule:

• Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 14
• Opening Round (12 games): March 17-18 at campus sites
• First Round (32 games): March 19-20 at campus sites
• Second round (16 games): March 21-22 at campus sites
• Sweet 16 (Eight games): March 26-27 in Philadelphia and Las Vegas
• Elite Eight (Four games): March 28-29 in Philadelphia and Las Vegas
• Final Four: Friday, April 2 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio
• NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 4 Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio

Does this mean more money for women's basketball?

The women's NCAA tournament currently has a media rights deal with ESPN that reportedly values the tournament at about $65 million per year. As reported by Front Office Sports, the media rights agreements for both the men's and women's tournaments specify that media partners are not required to pay extra for the additional games. 

However, the NCAA will reportedly get about $300 million over six years in payouts from television partners after this expansion, thanks primarily to allowing more commercials during NCAA Tournament games and relaxing regulations to allow the advertising of alcohol. The projected revenue after expenses is $131 million through 2032, or $21.83 million per year, but it has not yet been disclosed how that money will be distributed to NCAA membership. All of those figures are combined for the men's and women's tournaments.

While the NCAA earns money from the NCAA Tournament through broadcast deals and sponsorships, the schools and conferences participating get paid from units, a fixed sum awarded to conferences for each game a team from said conference plays in the tournament. 

The women have only received units since 2025, and their units are much smaller than their male counterparts. Each unit in the men's tournament is currently worth about $2 million distributed over six years, while the women earn about $200,000 distributed over three years. Even if the amount of each individual unit remains the same, there would be more money paid out to women's basketball conferences overall, given that there will be eight extra teams per tournament playing four extra games.

March Madness is expanding from 68 to 76 teams next year. @achristovichh breaks down the new NCAA agreement ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ZP2S4jNYD0

— Front Office Sports News (@FOS_News_) May 7, 2026

What are the top coaches saying about this?

The decision to expand is not a popular one among fans, and a lot of top coaches aren't thrilled about it, either. One of the major concerns is that instead of giving more opportunities to smaller programs, the extra spots will mostly be given to the Power Four conferences, therefore giving more money to those who already have the most funds. 

"This kind of is the prequel to there being 86 or 88 or 92 teams in the tournament, and they all come from four conferences," Auriemma said Monday. "Or the way it's going now, maybe there's only 64 teams and they come from two conferences. I don't know, but this is not about wanting to give more people opportunities.

"People are saying that those play-in games or these other teams that get in, it benefits them financially. Well, only if you give it to teams that need the money from the tournament."

During this year's tournament, the Big Ten had 12 bids while the SEC had 10. That means almost a third of the teams competing in the Big Dance came from just two of the 31 conferences. When you add the combined 17 bids from the ACC and the Big 12, the Power Four conferences had 39 of the 68 teams competing in this year's tournament.

Louisville's Jeff Walz also pointed out that the quality of resumes of those teams competing in the NCAA Tournament could diminish.

"I want to keep it at 68. If we expand, does it water it down?" Walz told On3. "There's always going to be somebody, whether it's the 73rd or 77th team that's unhappy – and just because the men decide something doesn't mean it's necessarily the best thing for us. I like our tournament where it is now." 

What happens to parity?

There is concern about how expansion will impact the competitiveness of the tournament, particularly on the women's side, where the first few rounds are rife with blowouts. The men's tournament started in 1939, but the women's tournament did not start until 1982. There has been more investment in women's basketball in recent years, but reaching more parity takes time.

On the women's side, only teams seeded in the top three have won a national championship, as opposed to the men's side where Villanova won the national title in 1985 as a No. 8 seed. The men have had a No. 15 seed make a Sweet 16 appearance, but true Cinderellas are much less common on the women's side, with no No. 15 seed ever winning a single game in the Big Dance. This year, Virginia was an unexpected Cinderella story as the first women's team to play in the First Four and make it to the Sweet 16, but they were a No. 10 seed.

What would an expanded tournament have looked like in 2026? 

Here are the teams that would have made the Big Dance this year, as projected by CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel:

Projected team

Overall record

BYU

22-11

Texas A&M

14-12

Stanford

19-13

Utah

19-12

Mississippi State

18-13

North Dakota State

28-4

Kansas

19-13

Indiana

18-14

Could this be a good thing for women's basketball?

If you are looking for silver linings, there are a few. The NCAA is quick to point out that the new format means nearly half of the No. 15 and No. 16 teams are guaranteed to win at least one tournament game, and while the significance of those wins might be diluted because they are coming against other No. 15 and No. 16 seeds, they will earn extra money for playing in multiple games.

Also, expansion means that 21% of Division I teams will be participating in the tournament. It was 18% prior to the expansion, which the NCAA pointed out was the lowest among major team sports.

And more games means more exposure for players, coaches and programs.

"More eyes on our sport. That's what it is," Missouri women's basketball coach Kellie Harper told reporters. "I think there's a huge draw for more games in the tournament and, obviously, more games in the tournament means more teams in the tournament. So, hopefully (that's) great for women's basketball."

TCU's Mark Campbell, who started his career as a mid-major men's basketball coach, was also in favor of the expansion.

"I would lean towards expanding the tournament," he told On3. "After being at the mid-major level, to earn an at-large bid into March Madness is almost impossible. Your margin for error is close to zero. I don't know if I'd expand to 72 or 76, but I do think it should be expanded to allow a little more opportunity."