ESPN Apologizes After Women's NCAA Tournament Bracket Leaked Before Selection Show
ESPN apologized after it leaked the women's NCAA tournament bracket on Monday afternoon ahead of the official reveal.
According to screenshots first from Blake DuDonis, the bracket appeared on ESPNU. The selection show was then moved up to 5 p.m. ET after the bracket appeared to be leaked. ESPN then released a statement, extending an apology to the NCAA and women's basketball community.
"In working with the NCAA to prepare for tonight’s Women’s Selection Special we received the bracket, similar to years past. In the midst of our preparation, the bracket was mistakenly posted on ESPNU. We deeply regret the error and extend our apology to the NCAA and the women’s basketball community. We will conduct a thorough review of our process to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future. We will now broadcast the full bracket at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2, and the regularly-scheduled show on ESPN at 7 p.m."
The NCAA also released a statement.
The bracket shows Louisville, Notre Dame, Mississippi State and Baylor as No. 1 seeds. Louisville is set to face Robert Morris on Friday, while Mississippi State will face Southern on Friday. Notre Dame will play Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, and Baylor will face Abilene Christian on Saturday.
This isn't the first time an NCAA tournament bracket could have been leaked. In 2016, a complete leaked men's bracket started appearing on Twitter around 50 minutes into the two-hour selection show. The show had only gotten through two regions, but the bracket proved to be legit as the two other regions were filled out.
