March Madness will be a little wilder this spring. ESPN‘s Mechelle Voepel has reported that the NCAA will expand the Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament to 68 teams this season.
Similar to the men’s tournament, teams 65 through 68 will compete in opening round games before joining the field of 64. In 2022, these “play-in” games will be hosted by four of the top 16 seeds. After 2022, these “play-in” games will be played at neutral sites.
“This was another important step in providing additional championship participation opportunities for women’s basketball student-athletes,” Division I Women’s Basketball Committee Chairwoman Nina King told ESPN.
“The committee was in support of implementing this as soon as possible and were pleased that the expanded championship field will be in play immediately for the upcoming championship and beyond.”
The decision to expand the women’s college basketball post-season tournament comes right after Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP put together a report highlighting the gender disparities in college sports.
“The expanded bracket and championship opportunities for Division I women’s basketball student-athletes are paramount,” Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee Chairperson Lisa Campos added.
“While the 2022 championship will be conducted at top-16 seed campus sites, this is a transition year for the tournament, and strong consideration will be given for other improvement areas, including opening-round games taking place at a predetermined site, in order to improve the championship experience in 2023 and beyond.”
