Anticipated No. 1 seeds UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas were chosen as hosts for the first two rounds of the NCAA Women's Tournament on Saturday.
For the first time, the NCAA revealed the 16 teams that will be hosting on opening weekend a day before the bracket is revealed. The list of schools was in alphabetical order.
Other hosts were Duke, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, TCU, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.
By announcing it a day early it gives schools an extra day to sell tickets, broadcast partner ESPN to start to move its equipment to the locations and the NCAA to get its marketing materials to sites. The NCAA has done this before in other sports such as baseball.
“There’s such a quick turnaround so if schools know that they’re going to be hosting, that allows them to start that process earlier,” NCAA vice president of women's basketball Lynn Holzman said in an interview with The Associated Press a few weeks ago. “It helps us operate nationally as we have to get things moved throughout the country within about a 24, not even a 24-hour period.”
Holzman also feels that it can generate more excitement around the bracket reveal Sunday night.
The regional rounds will be played at two neutral sites for the fourth straight year. Fort Worth, Texas, will host half of the Sweet 16, and Sacramento, California, will host the other eight teams.
The Final Four will be played in Phoenix on April 3 and the NCAA championship game is two days later.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
South Carolina forward Joyce Edwards shoots over LSU guard Milaysia Fulwiley during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
A pilot from Alabama had just been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week when the refueling aircraft he was aboard crashed in Iraq this week, killing him and five others, his brother-in-law said Saturday.
Alex Klinner, 33, leaves behind three small children: 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son, his brother-in-law, James Harrill, said Saturday while confirming his death.
“It’s kind of heartbreaking to say: He was just a really good dad and really loved his family a lot — like a lot,” Harrill said.
Also aboard the aircraft was an Ohio man whose loved ones remembered him for his smile, his parents said.
The Pentagon hasn’t yet revealed the identities of the six, but families began revealing who had died Saturday.
The aircraft was in “friendly” airspace, supporting operations against Iran, when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred, according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety, U.S. military officials said.
The Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing said in a Facebook post late Friday that three of the dead were airmen who served in the Columbus-based unit.
“We share in the sorrow of their loved ones, and we must not forget the valuable contributions these Airmen made to their country and the impact they have left on our organization,” according to the 121st Air Refueling Wing’s post.
Klinner, an eight-year U.S. Air Force veteran from Birmingham, Alabama, had just moved with his family into a new home, his wife, Libby Klinner, said in an Instagram post mourning his death.
An outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking, Klinner was also ready to help others. When Harrill last saw him in January, Klinner had shoveled Harrill’s vehicle out of the snow during a family wedding.
“Alex was one of those guys that had this steady command about him,” said Harrill, who helped set up a GoFundMe site for Klinner’s family. “He was literally one of the most kindest, giving people.”
Libby Klinner said in a post that her heart is broken for their children, who will grow up not knowing their father.
“They won’t get to see firsthand the way he would jump up to help in any way he could,” she wrote. “They won’t see how goofy and funny he was. They won’t witness his selflessness, the way he thought about everyone else before himself. They won’t get to feel the deep love he had for them.”
Sgt. Tyler Simmons of Columbus, Ohio, also was among six service members who died Thursday in the crash of a KC-135 Stratotanker, his mother, Cheryl Simmons, confirmed on Saturday. Cheryl Simmons said she was making funeral plans for her son.
In a statement obtained by WCMH-TV in Columbus, Tyler Simmons' family said it was saddened beyond measure to hear of the fatal crash.
“Tyler’s smile could light up any room, his strong presence would fill it. His parents, grandparents, family and friends are grief stricken for the loss of life,” they said.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, has said the crash occurred on a combat mission but was over “friendly” territory in western Iraq. Military officials said it is being investigated and was "not due to hostile or friendly fire.”
The KC-135 aircraft refuels other planes in midair, allowing them to fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing. The plane can also be used to transport wounded personnel and conduct surveillance missions, according to military experts.
The Congressional Research Service says the Air Force last year had 376 KC-135s, including 151 on active duty, 163 in the Air National Guard and 62 in the Air Force Reserve. It has been in service for more than 60 years.
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri; Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Walker from New York.
FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft performs a flyover during the national anthem before an NCAA college football game between Central Florida and Georgia Tech, Sept. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling tanker aircraft takes off from the Kadena Air Base airfield in Kadena town, west of Okinawa, southern Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)
In this Jan. 28, 2026 photo, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Aaron Slupski, a crew chief with the 121st Maintenance Group, prepares to marshal a KC-135 Stratotanker at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Columbus, Ohio. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday that three of six crew members of an American KC-135 refueling plane were killed when it crashed in Iraq were from his state and had deployed with the Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refueling Wing. (Ralph Branson, U.S. Air National Guard photo via AP)
