A projected 76-team women's field, seeded and placed by the same kind of rules engine as the men's, then checked against the women's committee's published structure. Nothing is placed by hand. The top 16 seeds host the early rounds on campus, and the bracket seeds the top 16 by true ranking, so the placement engine is the women's own.
7 of 9 testable bracketing principles satisfied in today’s bracketRead the auditFour regions of 16. Teams are shown at their bracket seed line with their true seed-list number in grey at the right. Each pod is hosted by its top seed, on campus. The top 16 seeds are placed by true ranking, so no team is moved off its seed line.
The 12 lowest at-large teams on the seed list now play in the Opening Round, so a bye is worth far more than it used to be. Teams ranked 40 through 55 on the seed list are the ones playing their way in.
| Conference | Projected champion | RankSlate | Record | Seed line | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big East | UConn | 1 | No. 1 | Philadelphia 1 | |
| SEC | South Carolina | 2 | No. 1 | Philadelphia 2 | |
| Big Ten | Michigan | 4 | No. 1 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| ACC | Duke | 5 | No. 2 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| Big 12 | TCU | 11 | No. 3 | Las Vegas 1 | |
| Ivy League | Princeton | 33 | No. 9 | Philadelphia 1 | |
| Summit League | South Dakota State | 38 | No. 10 | Las Vegas 1 | |
| Sun Belt | James Madison | 41 | No. 11 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| Pac-12 | Gonzaga | 47 | No. 11 | Philadelphia 2 | |
| American | Rice | 50 | No. 12 | Philadelphia 1 | |
| MAAC | Fairfield | 52 | No. 12 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| MVC | Murray State | 63 | No. 13 | Philadelphia 2 | |
| Atlantic 10 | George Mason | 66 | No. 13 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| Big Sky | Montana State | 67 | No. 13 | Las Vegas 1 | |
| MAC | Miami (OH) | 68 | No. 14 | Philadelphia 1 | |
| WCC | Santa Clara | 73 | No. 14 | Philadelphia 2 | |
| Southland | McNeese | 78 | No. 14 | Las Vegas 1 | |
| America East | Vermont | 81 | No. 14 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| Big West | UC Irvine | 84 | No. 15 | Las Vegas 1 | |
| Mountain West | UNLV | 86 | No. 15 | Philadelphia 2 | |
| OVC | Western Illinois | 87 | No. 15 | Philadelphia 1 | |
| Horizon | Green Bay | 90 | No. 15 | Philadelphia 1 | |
| UAC | Eastern Kentucky | 106 | No. 15 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| CUSA | Missouri State | 109 | No. 15 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| NEC | Fairleigh Dickinson | 115 | No. 16 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| MEAC | Howard | 120 | No. 16 | Las Vegas 2 | |
| Patriot | Army | 121 | No. 16 | Philadelphia 1 | |
| ASUN | Jacksonville | 122 | No. 16 | Philadelphia 1 | |
| CAA | Charleston | 128 | No. 16 | Philadelphia 2 | |
| Big South | High Point | 137 | No. 16 | Philadelphia 2 | |
| SWAC | Alabama A&M | 193 | No. 16 | Las Vegas 1 | |
| SoCon | Chattanooga | 209 | No. 16 | Las Vegas 1 |
The women’s committee brackets by its own rules: the top 16 seeds are placed by true ranking and host on campus, and conference separation is waived. This checks every placement against those rules and prints what it finds, including the places it cannot satisfy.
| No. | Principle | The rule | What this bracket does | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Field of 76 | One automatic bid per conference, with at-large berths filling the field to 76. For 2027 that is 32 automatic and 44 at-large. | 32 automatic (32 conferences), 44 at-large, 76 total | Pass |
| 02 | Opening Round | Twelve games: the 12 lowest automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest at-large teams play their way into the field of 64. | 6 automatic-qualifier games, 6 at-large games | Pass |
| 03 | Top 16 by true ranking | The top 16 seeds are placed by ranking alone, regardless of conference. Every team sits on its true seed line. | The 16 best teams hold seed lines 1-4; every team is on its true seed | Pass |
| 04 | Regional balance | Adding true seeds across the top four lines, no more than five points should separate the strongest and weakest region. | Spread of 0: Philadelphia 1 34, Philadelphia 2 34, Las Vegas 1 34, Las Vegas 2 34 | Pass |
| 05 | Campus hosting | The top 16 seeds host the first and second rounds on their home court. Each group of four is hosted by its highest seed. | All 16 host campuses are the top seed in their group | Pass |
| 06 | Two regional sites | The four regions play at two regional cities, two regions apiece. | Philadelphia (2), Las Vegas (2) | Pass |
| 07 | Areas of natural interest | Teams stay as close to home as the bracket allows. The top four seeds host, so the honest measure is the trip every other team makes to a host campus. | Average trip 430 miles · 4 of 64 teams over 1,400 miles | Pass |
| 08 | Three games at a venue | In a neutral-site format a team cannot play in a building where it played more than three times this season. | The early rounds are hosted on campus, so the neutral-venue rule does not apply to the women’s bracket. | Not tested |
| 09 | Rematch avoidance | Where possible, avoid second- and third-round rematches of regular-season games. The women’s bracket seeds by true ranking, so this is advisory only. | 39 possible rematches in the true-seeded bracket: UConn v Villanova (round 2, Philadelphia 1); Vanderbilt v Ole Miss (round 3, Philadelphia 1); Vanderbilt v Tennessee (round 2, Philadelphia 1); Vanderbilt v Georgia/Iowa State (round 3, Philadelphia 1); Louisville v Syracuse (round 3, Philadelphia 1); USC v Washington (round 2, Philadelphia 1) and 33 more. | Advisory |
| 10 | Conference proximity | The women’s bracket seeds by true ranking and does not separate conferences, so same-league teams can meet before the regional final. Reported for transparency, not as a violation. | 26 same-conference pairs could meet before the regional final: UConn v Villanova (Big East, Philadelphia 1); Vanderbilt v Ole Miss (SEC, Philadelphia 1); Vanderbilt v Tennessee (SEC, Philadelphia 1); Vanderbilt v Georgia/Iowa State (SEC, Philadelphia 1); Louisville v Syracuse (ACC, Philadelphia 1); USC v Washington (Big Ten, Philadelphia 1) and 20 more. | Advisory |
The 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams play in; the 12 winners fill out the 64-team bracket. Higher seed hosts. Sites are not yet published, so we host each game on the higher seed's campus for now.
The first two rounds are on the top 16 seeds' campuses, which move with the projection. The regional and Final Four sites are fixed.
These matchups are projections, not the announced field. Do not book travel based on them.