The NCAA has announced that, beginning with the 2026‑27 women's basketball tournament, the top 16 teams will be seeded according to their overall season ranking rather than conference affiliation. This change is designed to reward teams for their performance throughout the year and to prevent early matchups between conference rivals that have long shaped bracket dynamics.
Expanding the March Madness field
Alongside the seeding reform, the association will grow both the men's and women's brackets from 68 to 76 teams. The increase adds more at‑large selections and expands the play‑in round, giving more programs a chance to compete on the national stage.
The shift also revives the concept of tournament units. In the most recent season, a single unit was valued at roughly $201,000, and payouts are spread across three years to the conferences that earn them.
Financial implications are already visible. In the 2026 tournament the Big Ten captured 32 units, translating to about $6.4 million in revenue for the league.
Analysts such as Tony Bozella have pointed out that the new model could reshape how conferences schedule non‑conference games, as teams will now aim for higher overall rankings to secure a favorable seed.
Sam Purcell of USA TODAY Sports added that the reforms reflect a broader effort to align tournament seeding with performance metrics, a shift that could influence future selection processes.