The NCAA women's basketball tournament is implementing a significant seeding change for its top 16 teams, beginning with the 2026-27 March Madness. Previously, the selection committee would adjust seedings to prevent teams from the same conference from meeting early in the tournament, often dropping lower-ranked conference teams to avoid matchups with higher-seeded league rivals. For example, LSU and Vanderbilt, the third and fourth ranked SEC teams in the top 16 this past season, were seeded lower to avoid early games with No. 1 seeds South Carolina and Texas. This rule became increasingly difficult to enforce as Power 4 conferences expanded following conference realignment, leading to instances like the 2025 tournament where North Carolina and Duke met in the Sweet 16 despite being conference rivals.