• Selection Sunday: The field of 68 was set for the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments.
• Men’s tournament field: The men’s bracket is set with Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida named top seeds.
• Women’s tournament field: The women’s bracket is set with UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and Southern California named top seeds.
• Here’s the full men’s field: Here are the matchups and dates for all the game’s in the men’s tournament that tips off this week.
The fields are set and it’s time for a big exhale before the madness truly kicks into gear.
The selection committees for both the men’s and women’s NCAA college basketball postseason tournaments unveiled the fields of 68 teams on Sunday evening. There was the usual bit of controversy, but overall the bracket reveals mostly showed that college basketball fans have quite the next few weeks ahead of them.
Here are five takeaways from Selection Sunday:
• Auburn, Florida, Houston and Duke are the top seeds: Auburn University, Duke University, the University of Houston and the University of Florida were announced as the four No. 1 seeds in the men’s tournament. Auburn was awarded with the top overall seed despite losing three of their last four games to end the season.
• SEC makes history with 14 teams earning NCAA tournament places: The SEC features a record-setting number of teams at the men’s NCAA tournament this year, after securing 14 bids to the Big Dance, surpassing the Big East’s mark of 11 set in 2011.
• UNC makes it and controversy ensues: University of North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said he did not have any effect on the Tar Heels making the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels had a lackluster resume and looked like they were going to miss out on the Big Dance, but they ended up being included in the field of 68.
UNC went 22-13 in the 2024-25 season, including 13-7 in the ACC. They won just one game against Quad 1 teams, teams placed in the top 25% of the NCAA Evaluation Tool that takes into account a number of different factors to rank teams. UNC has lost 12 Quad 1 games in 13 tries. They will play San Diego State on Tuesday in the First Four, with the winner facing off against Ole Miss.
• UCLA takes the top seed in the women’s tournament over South Carolina: The Bruins took the top seed in the women’s bracket, edging out South Carolina. The Gamecocks had held that role in every tournament since 2021. The University of Texas and the University of Southern California were announced as the last two No. 1 seeds in the women’s NCAA basketball tournament on Sunday.
• The Big Ten dominates the women’s game: The Big Ten is sending 12 teams to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, a new record for a conference and a strong answer to the SEC’s dominance of the men’s game. Top-seeded UCLA and their crosstown rival USC are both No. 1 seeds. The conference is also sending Michigan State, Maryland, Indiana, Oregon, Washington, Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa to the dance.
The Big Ten is sending 12 teams to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, a new record for a conference and a strong answer to the SEC’s dominance of the men’s game.
Top-seeded UCLA and their crosstown rival USC are both No. 1 seeds. The conference is also sending Michigan State, Maryland, Indiana, Oregon, Washington, Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa to the dance.
With the amount of expansion in recent years, it’s perhaps not surprising to see top conferences sending so many teams to the postseason tournament. But it’s still clear to see that the power on the hardwood is firmly set in the SEC and Big Ten at this point.
Of course, in the women’s game, there are powerhouses that would disagree with that assertion. South Carolina is looking for its third national championship in four years and UConn and Paige Bueckers are looking to put their stamp on the tournament this year as well.
UCLA, the University of South Carolina, the University of Texas and the University of Southern California were announced as the four No. 1 seeds in the women’s NCAA basketball tournament on Sunday.
The Bruins earned the No. 1 overall seed for the first time in women’s program history, after winning their first conference tournament title since 2006 with a come-from-behind win over USC in the Big Ten final. UCLA will be the top seed in the Spokane 1 region (Regional 1) and will tip off their NCAA Tournament on Friday against the winner of the first four matchup between UC-San Diego and Southern University.
South Carolina will be the top seed in the Birmingham 2 region (Regional 2 in Birmingham, Alabama), and No. 2 overall in the tournament after finishing with a 30-3 record. The defending champions will start their bid for a fourth national championship under Dawn Staley on Friday against No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech. The Gamecocks were strong contenders for the No. 1 seed in the tournament following their win over Texas at the SEC Tournament final.
Meanwhile, Texas will top the Birmingham 3 region after finishing the season with a 31-3 record and a share of the SEC regular season title. The Longhorns will begin their NCAA Tournament against the winner of the first four matchup between High Point University and William & Mary on Saturday.
USC earned the last No. 1 seed of the Spokane 4 region, where they’ll tip off their tournament against No. 16 UNC Greensboro on Saturday.
The UCLA Bruins took the top seed in the women’s bracket, edging out South Carolina. The Gamecocks had held that role in every tournament since 2021.
How did the two squads feels about it? The answer was clear based on the videos of the two teams on ESPN as the brackets were unveiled.
UCLA’s team broke into massive cheers and jumped around, bouncing like pogo sticks as they saw their school’s name come on screen first.
When the Gamecocks were unveiled, they sat and clapped, looking up at the big screen in their arena. There were smiles but far from the unbridled joy that UCLA showed.
Afterward, Arkansas deputy athletic director Derita Dawkins, the chair of the women’s tournament’s selection committee, said the head-to-head results between the two teams (UCLA beat South Carolina 77-62 in November) and South Carolina’s defeat to UConn earlier in the season as deciding factors.
Still, it feels hard to bet against the defending national champions and head coach Dawn Staley.
Here are the seeds and matchups in Region 4 Spokane:
Here are the matchups and seeds for Region 3 Birmingham:
Here are the matchups and seeds for Region 2 Birmingham:
Here are the matchups and seeds for Region 1 Spokane:
The William & Mary Tribe just squeaked out an upset win over Campbell in the Coastal Athletic Association final, booking a trip to the NCAA women’s tournament in the process.
The Tribe’s Bella Nascimento made a clutch jumper with 11 seconds to play to put her team up 66-63, which would eventually be the final score about one last defensive stop.
William & Mary finished the season under .500 with a 15-18 record overall and an 8-10 record in the CAA. But with big wins over conference regular season champions North Carolina A&T, Drexel and Campbell, the Tribe made an unlikely run all the way to the Big Dance.
The Tribe will likely be the CAA’s only representative in the tournament – something few would have believed coming into the CAA tournament in Washington, DC, this weekend.
Murray State is headed to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament after routing the Belmont Bruins in the Missouri Valley Conference final on Sunday.
Murray State does the conference double, winning the tournament after sharing the regular season title with Missouri State. They led most of the way and finished the tournament with an 83-62 victory.
It’s going to be a nervous night for the ladies from Belmont. The Bruins are firmly on the bubble after their conference tournament run and are hoping to squeeze into the field of 68.
Despite not officially counting toward your bracket score, the First Four marks the official start of March Madness with four play-in games.
Dayton, Ohio, will once again play host to the eight teams vying for a spot in the main bracket.
Tuesday is the day. No. 16 Saint Francis (PA) faces No. 16 Alabama State with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET on truTV.
Following that first game, No. 11 San Diego State will play North Carolina on the same court at the University of Dayton’s UD Arena and on the same channel – truTV.
On Wednesday, No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s will clash with No. 16 American University, followed by No. 11 Xavier – just a 45-minute drive up I-75 to Dayton – taking on No. 11 Texas – also on truTV.
Fairleigh Dickinson dominated Stonehill in the Northeastern Conference women’s championship on Sunday, putting a cherry on top of a dominant conference season.
The Knights went undefeated in the conference during the regular season for a 16-0 record and finished that run off with a 66-49 win over the Skyhawks in the conference championship.
Fairleigh Dickinson led the whole way to clinch their school’s first-ever visit to the women’s tournament. The 29-3 Knights will now come into the tournament as a true Cinderella – their three losses were all against Quad 1 and Quad 3 teams in the NCCA’s Evaluation Tool rankings.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks used a dominant second half to put away Army in the Patriot League final on Sunday, booking their place in the NCAA women’s tournament.
The win completes the conference double for Lehigh and compounds the Black Knights’ misery. Army finished second to Lehigh by a game in the conference regular season and are now left ruing a 74-62 loss that keeps them out of the NCAA tournament.
On the women’s side of things, most of the major conferences wrapped up their tournaments last week.
Iowa State, Washington, Columbia, Princeton, Virginia Tech, Boise State, St. Joseph’s, James Madison and UNLV are all bubble teams who are awaiting their fates, according to ESPN’s Charlie Creme.
Indiana, West Virginia, Ohio State and Boise State were the NCAA selection committee’s last four to be locked out of the dance.
The biggest snub has to be the Hoosiers, who will miss the tournament for a second straight season after finishing the regular season and the Big Ten tournament with a 19-13 record.
A loss to Oregon in the first round of the Big Ten tournament likely swayed the committee’s decision to exclude the Hoosiers from the Big Dance.
The decision to include North Carolina as the last team in over IU and West Virginia has sparked controversy among college basketball fans.
The Tar Heels 1-12 record in Quad 1 games, was worse than Indiana, who notched four Quad 1 wins. North Carolina also had a loss to Stanford, who are considered a Quad 3 team.
It’s been about 20 minutes since the field for the men’s tournament was unveiled, so it’s time for some instant analysis: Who has the easiest path to the Final Four?
For my money, I would be very happy to be St. John’s right now. They are the No. 2 seed in the West and might not face a team with a similar level of talent until they get to the Elite Eight, where they could meet No. 1 seed Florida. The Gators have been red hot recently, but they might have to deal with a three-peat-minded UConn in the second round and potentially Maryland or Memphis – two tough teams – in the Sweet 16.
Tennessee and Kentucky could be on track for a cross-border showdown in the Sweet 16 but if either of them are upset on the first weekend, the other school is facing a more straightforward path to the Final Four in San Antonio.
Auburn and Duke are probably the nation’s best teams and they’ve got stern tests awaiting them. Auburn has Michigan State, Michigan and Iowa State to deal with while Duke’s region is stacked with Alabama, Wisconsin, Arizona and Oregon. They’ll be earning those breakfast tacos in Texas if they get there.
University of North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said he did not have any effect on the Tar Heels making the NCAA tournament.
UNC had a lackluster resume and looked like they were going to miss out on the Big Dance, but ended up being included in the field of 68. They will play San Diego State on Tuesday in the First Four, with the winner facing off against Ole Miss.
Cunningham told CBS after the bracket was unveiled that he was not in the room when UNC’s bid was considered, as is protocol for athletic directors who are on the selection committee.
“All the policies and procedures were followed, and Keith (Gill, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference) can address exactly how North Carolina was discussed because I was not in the room for any of that,” Cunningham said.
Gill added that had the University of Alabama-Birmingham beat Memphis in the AAC championship earlier on Sunday then the Tar Heels would be watching the tournament from home.
“We took our final vote and we voted in four teams in the field on Saturday night, and we had a contingency vote,” Gill said. “And the contingency vote – that was the last team in the field – and it was based on Memphis and UAB. If Memphis won that game, then that was going to free up a spot in the tournament and that was going to be North Carolina. If UAB had won, then Memphis was going to be in the tournament – UAB would have been in the tournament and North Carolina would have been the first team out.
“And so that process played out today. Memphis won, and that put North Carolina in the field.”
The SEC will feature a record-setting number of teams at the men’s NCAA tournament this year, after securing 14 bids to the Big Dance, surpassing the Big East’s mark of 11 set in 2011.
On Saturday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey defended the conference’s record amount of bids calling it a “unicorn” league.
“It’s a unicorn league right now,” Sankey told ESPN. “We’re not going to change our name, but we stand alone historically. And I think that’ll be rewarded.”
Auburn University, Duke University, the University of Houston and the University of Florida were announced as the four No. 1 seeds in the men’s basketball tournament as the NCAA revealed the 68-team bracket Sunday.
Auburn was awarded with the top overall seed despite losing three of their last four games to end the season. The Tigers will be the South Region No. 1 team and will start their championship pursuit Thursday against the winner of a First Four matchup between Alabama State and Saint Francis University.
The Atlantic Coast Conference champion Duke Blue Devils headline the East Region and will tip off their tournament Friday against the winner of the First Four game between American University and Mount St. Mary’s.
Big 12 Conference winner Houston is the top seed in the Midwest Region, where the Cougars will start the tournament against Ohio Valley Conference champion Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on Thursday.
On the heels of a Southeastern Conference tournament championship, Florida claimed the top seed in the West Region. The Gators are the second SEC team to receive a No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament after Auburn and will look to continue their hot streak against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference winner Norfolk State on Friday.
Here are the seeds and matchups in the in the West Region
