Point one — The annual road to the Final Four in NCAA women’s and men’s postseason basketball will be a little longer next spring.
Beginning in 2027, 76 teams will play in the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, with 12 opening-round games replacing the First Four.
As a result, two different pods of competitors in both WBB and MBB will emerge: the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers (AQs) will fill six of those games, and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams will fill the other six. AQs play AQs, and at-large teams play at-large teams.
Will the new NCAA tourney setup announced in May finally help HBCUs, who historically get low seeds, earn better seeding positions? All-Black conferences such as the MEAC and SWAC typically find themselves in First Four games since they are AQs.
Howard (MEAC) and Prairie View (SWAC) made history this past spring when they advanced as 16-seeds, but their next contests were against No. 1 seeds in the Round of 64, and both fell.
So far, no dissension from Black college officials and coaches about the new setup, who probably see it as nothing new as far as being seeded by the NCAA selection folks.
This is the first expansion of the NCAA tournament since it went to 68 teams for the men in 2011 and the women in 2022.
Point two — The SWAC basketball tournaments will look different when they come around next March.
Under the revised format suggested by the league’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball working group, the top two teams in each tournament bracket will receive byes directly into the semifinals. Seeds No. 3 and 4 will advance directly to the quarterfinals, and seeds No. 5 and 6 will receive byes into the second round.
Now, the top 10 WBB and MBB teams will make the SWAC postseason after the regular season is completed: No. 8 vs. No. 9, and No. 7 vs. No. 10, with the two winners facing the fifth and sixth seeds in the second round.
Point three — The MEAC’s sanctioned sports now number 16.
Women’s flag football and women’s golf have been added and will begin play in the upcoming 2026-27 sports year.
As an NCAA Emerging Sport, flag football has the potential to host its inaugural championship as early as spring 2028. The sport is also set to debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Women’s golf “provides an additional championship opportunity for female student-athletes and enhances [sic] the conference’s overall competitive offerings,” said a MEAC June 16 release.
Commissioner Sonja Stills said in the release that the two new women’s sports “represents [sic] an exciting step forward in the MEAC and our member institutions.”
Point four — The NAIA’s only all-Black conference this summer welcomed its 16th member school.
Jarvis Christian (TX) University (JCU) was unanimously voted in by the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) Council of Presidents in April.
Beginning in 2026-27, JCU is a full conference member, making the HBCUAC the largest Black college sports league in the nation.
“Their membership strengthens our conference’s commitment to providing HBCU student-athletes with the highest level of competition, collaboration and opportunity. This is a proud day for our entire conference,” said Commissioner Kiki Baker Barnes in the April 21 press release.
Point five — Howard led all HBCUs this past sports season with 10 conference championships.
FINALLY …
“The Voice of HBCU Sports” went silent this spring. Charlie Neal, the legendary voice of Black college sports, died at the age of 80 on May 13. He called Black college football and basketball games for over four decades on BET and ESPN.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@spokesman-recorder.com.
Copyright © Charles Hallman