RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A change to the women’s NCAA Tournament format is coming a year too late for the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
The NCAA said Friday that the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds in 2023 will be held at two regional sites — not four, as they had been in previous years.
Those host sites in March 2023 will be Seattle and Greenville, South Carolina.
Each site will host two regional semifinal games on both March 24 and March 25, and each will host a regional championship on both March 26 and March 27.
With two regional sites instead of four, it cuts the chances that a higher-seeded team would have to play an effective road game against a lower-seeded opponent with a trip to the Final Four on the line — which is exactly what happened to N.C. State in March.
The Wolfpack, the No. 1 seed in its region, drew second-seeded Connecticut in Hartford in the Elite Eight. The Huskies beat N.C. State 91-87 in double overtime to keep the Wolfpack from their first Final Four since 1998.
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