One of the biggest days of the college basketball season is this Sunday, and a lot is riding on how it turns out. Selection Sunday marks the true beginning of March Madness, as the NCAA selection committee reveals the 68 teams that will make up this year's tournament.
The unveiling will air on CBS on March 15, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET (two hours after the men's teams are announced). ESPN will also air the bracket reveal.
Teams are chosen one of two ways: 31 teams automatically qualify for the tournament based on their league conference performances, and another 37 teams are selected by the NCAA committee. The committee also divides the teams into four regions and numbered 1 through 16. While many fans are familiar with the Final Four, there's also a First Four at the very beginning of the tournament — the women's games will be played March 18 and March 19, and will feature eight teams hoping to advance to the 64-team main stage.
31 women's basketball teams are automatically in the tournament
The list of the 31 teams who will automatically make it to the 64-team bracket includes Vermont, Rhode Island, Duke, Jacksonville, West Virginia, UConn, Idaho, High Point, UCLA, Green Bay, Fairfield, Colorado State, Western Illinois, Texas, Samford, Stephen F. Austin, South Dakota State, JMU, and Gonzaga.
UConn is generally expected to enter March Madness as the No. 1 overall seed, though there has been some commotion in support of giving UCLA the nod.
The top 16 teams will host the first two rounds of games, which will give those teams a home court advantage. In addition to UConn and UCLA, the teams that are likely to make it into the top 16 include Texas, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Duke, and Michigan, among others.
After those two rounds teams will begin traveling a bit more. The Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eightw ill be held in Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, California; the Final Four will be played in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 2025 Final Four ended dramatically
Last year's Final Four in Tampa, Florida, concluded in a dramatic fashion when the UConn Huskies soundly defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Huskies are expected to make a strong showing during this year's tournament, and many have the team as the favorites to win it all again. Last year, both Texas and UCLA rounded out the teams who made it to the Final Four.