The Latest: Women’s NCAA Tournament bracket to be revealed

By Canadian Press on March 16, 2025.

March Madness brackets are being revealed.

The men’s bracket was revealed on the Selection Sunday show on CBS. The women’s tournament bracket will be unveiled at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Here’s the latest on this Selection Sunday:

Women’s tournament bracket to be revealed soon

The women’s tournament bracket will be unveiled at the top of the hour on ESPN.

Who is on the bubble for the women’s tournament?

One of the big questions heading into the women’s bracket reveal is whether the Ivy League will put three teams in.

Harvard won the automatic bid, leaving Columbia and Princeton on the bubble. In addition to those two teams, the rest of the bubble includes teams like Iowa State, Washington, Virginia Tech, Colorado, James Madison, Saint Joseph’s and Minnesota.

West Virginia, Boise State, Indiana left out of men’s tourney

Boise State and Indiana are on the outside looking in after Texas and North Carolina squeaked into the men’s NCAA Tournament.

And West Virginia may be an even more surprising omission. The Mountaineers were not even one of the last four in when ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the Washington Post made their projections. They were expected to make it more comfortably than that.

SEC shatters record

The Southeastern Conference shattered the previous record for getting the most teams into the NCAA Tournament. The previous mark was 11 set by the Big East in 2011.

The SEC topped it by three, with Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Missouri, Mississippi State, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas all getting in. Only LSU and South Carolina were left out from the league best known as a football powerhouse.

Men’s West Region

1. No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Norfolk State

2. No. 8 UConn vs. No. 9 Oklahoma

3. No. 5 Memphis vs. No. 12 Colorado State

4. No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Grand Canyon

5. No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 11 Drake

6. No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 UNC-Wilmington

7. No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas

8. No. 2 St. John’s vs. No. 15 Omaha

Men’s Midwest Region

9. No. 1 Houston vs. No. 16 SIU Edwardsville

10. No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 9 Georgia

11. No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 McNeese State

12. No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 High Point

13. No. 6 Illinois vs. No. 11 Texas/ Xavier

14. No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Troy

15. No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 Utah State

16. No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Wofford

Men’s East Region

17. No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 American/Mount St. Mary’s

18. No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 Baylor

19. No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 Liberty

20. No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 Akron

21. No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth

22. No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Montana

23. No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt

24. No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 15 Robert Morris

Men’s South Region

25. No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 16 Alabama State/Saint Francis

26. No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Crieghton

27. No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC San Diego

28. No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Yale

29. No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 San Diego St/North Carolina

30. No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 Lipscomb

31. No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 New Mexico

32. No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Bryant

Conference realignment slightly alters bids

Each conference receives an automatic bid to both the men’s and women’s tournaments, and then the rest of those fields are filled by the committee’s at-large selections.

The recent demise of the Pac-12 lowered the number of automatic qualifiers to 31, leaving room for 37 at-large teams.

Hey football fans, the SEC is a basketball power, too

The Southeastern Conference, normally a football power, has been unusually strong this season in basketball.

Its two newest members — Oklahoma and Texas — are both on the bubble, but if they get in, the SEC could have as many as 14 of its 16 teams in the men’s tournament.

March Madness is ready for its ‘Cinderella

’

A high seed that makes a run to the Sweet 16 or beyond is affectionately called “Cinderella.”

Five No. 11 seeds have advanced to the men’s Final Four: LSU (1986), George Mason (2006), VCU (2011), Loyola Chicago (2018) and N.C. State (2024).

Villanova is considered the ultimate Cinderella — the Wildcats won the 1985 NCAA Tournament by upsetting top-seeded Georgetown as a No. 8 seed, the lowest to ever win the title.

Finding a Cinderella is tougher on the women’s side. No teams lower than a No. 3 seed have won the women’s event. It happened three times: 1994 North Carolina, 1997 Tennessee and 2023 LSU.

Men’s NCAA Tournament schedule

33. First Four: March 18-19

34. First round: March 20-21

35. Second round: March 22-23

36. Sweet 16: March 27-28

37. Elite Eight: March 29-30

38. Final Four: April 5

39. Championship game: April 7

Women’s NCAA Tournament schedule

40. First Four: March 19-20

41. First round: March 21-22

42. Second round: March 23-24

43. Sweet 16: March 28-29

44. Elite Eight: March 30-31

45. Final Four: April 4

46. Championship game: April 6

Men’s tournament locations

The First Four will be played in Dayton, Ohio. The first and second rounds are in Cleveland; Denver; Lexington, Kentucky; Milwaukee; Providence, Rhode Island; Raleigh, North Carolina; Seattle; and Wichita, Kansas.

The regional semifinals (Sweet 16) and finals (Elite Eight) will take place in Newark, New Jersey (East Region); Atlanta (South); Indianapolis (Midwest); and San Francisco (West). The tournament ends with the Final Four and championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Women’s tournament locations

The women’s First Four is played at campus sites, which also will host first- and second-round games.

The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be held at two venues — one in Birmingham, Alabama, and the other in Spokane, Washington.

The Final Four and championship game will be at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

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AP March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

The Associated Press