The expansion of the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments from 68 to 76 teams next season means the First Four games on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday will be replaced by 12 games that will be called the March Madness Opening Round. Winners of those games will advance to the 64-team bracket.

The lowest-seeded 12 automatic qualifiers as seeded by the selection committees will play in half of the opening round games and the other six games will match the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams.

Teams will continue to be paired to face the opponent nearest to them on the committees’ overall seed lists. For example, seed 75 may play seed 76 in one opening round game, while the lowest-seeded at-large team may face the second-to-lowest-seeded at-large team.

Exceptions could be made, for example, to avoid a regular-season rematch or for geographic purposes.

Men’s tournament

The opening round games will be the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday in a location to be announced later and in Dayton, Ohio, which has been the traditional home of the First Four. There will be three games each day at each site.

Among at-large teams, two games will match No. 11 seeds and four will match No. 12s. Among the automatic qualifiers, two games will match No. 15s and four will match No. 16s.

Women’s tournament

The details are the same except that opening round games will be held the Wednesday and Thursday after Selection Sunday on the campuses of 12 of the top 16 seeds selected to host the first and second rounds.

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AP March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness