One of the most unique things about the NCAA Women’s Tournament versus the men’s is that the the First Four as well as the First and Second Rounds are hosted by the highest seeded schools instead of at neutral sites. It actually follows the standard of pretty much all of the other postseason championships that the NCAA puts on—most tournaments don’t get to neutral sites until you are in the Semifinals. The men’s tournament is the only one, really, that has neutral sites for every round.

While officials with the NCAA are discussing tournament expansion on the men’s side, they are also talking about items with the women’s tournament. It turns out that officials were inspired by another 64-team tournament—baseball—to make a change in how the tournament is announced next season.

The NCAA on Friday announced that the top 16 seeds for the women’s NCAA tournament will be revealed the day before Selection Sunday in alphabetical order to allow host sites more time to set up tournament operations. https://t.co/cO8TVOWYnX

— ESPN Women’s Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) July 11, 2025

It’s a move that makes a lot of sense for a couple of reasons. As noted above, by finding out on Saturday Night instead of Sunday, the host schools get one more day to get everything ready, and the teams themselves will know whether they get to stay home or if they need to start packing, and can plan accordingly.

The other part that makes a lot of sense is the anticipation this builds. If you already know you’re a top 16 seed, it whets the appetite for the tournament and doesn’t make it feel like an also-ran after the men’s announcement on Sunday afternoon. The news comes out during other Championship Saturday games and will be repeated often by the tournament’s carrier—ESPN.

It also will make the announcement of the brackets a little easier on Sunday as well, as the anticipation is gone over figuring out which sites will be hosting and everyone can focus on the teams themselves.

As noted, college baseball has used this model for a few years now. The host sites come out on Sunday Night before the bracket reveal on Memorial Day, and considering the undertaking that is needed to set up a site for hosting at lest three NCAA Tournament games, any extra advance time schools can get is extremely helpful. That’s another day to secure hotels, transportation, arrange practices—all of these items can now be done by the time the bracket is announced and it’ll allow the team and officials to focus on the games themselves.

Chances are this will be the only positive announcement about either NCAA Tournament over the next few days, so we might as well enjoy it. Hopefully next year we’ll be hearing that Chapel Hill will be a host ahead of time.