Beginning in 2027, the NCAA women's basketball tournament will seed the top 16 teams strictly by their national ranking, ignoring conference affiliation. This change comes as the tournament expands to 76 teams.

Previously, the top four teams from a single conference were spread across ramified regions to avoid early matchups. For example, the SEC’s four teams—Texas, South Carolina, LSU, and Vanderbilt—were re‑bracketed last season to keep them apart, even though LSU was the fifth overall seed and Vanderbilt the seventh.

"We put a lot of time into establishing those top 16 teams in the order they go in," said committee chair Amanda Braun. "You’re splitting hairs to decide who has the edge, and some of that is undone by those principles. To all of us, the work we did and the work those teams did justifies keeping them where they are in that group of 16."

The men’s committee will still separate the top four seeds per conference, so the change mainly impacts the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12. Financial incentives for advancing rounds were not raised during the committee’s week of meetings.

The adjustment coincides with the 2027 expansion, marking a new era for women’s college basketball.