In 1995, when Amanda Braun was a senior at Siena College, her mother scored tickets to the NCAA Division I Women\u2019s Final Four, held at the Target Center in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n
She crashed on a couch at a friend\u2019s house and witnessed a seminal moment in the history of women\u2019s college basketball as the great Rebecca Lobo led unbeaten UConn to the title with a 70-64 victory over Tennessee.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was another moment of real elevation in women\u2019s basketball,\u201d Braun said, \u201cand I just happened to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty-seven years later, in 2022, Braun was back at the Target Center for the Final Four. This time, the director of athletics at Milwaukee was sitting courtside as a first-year member of the NCAA Division I Women\u2019s Basketball Committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just such a full-circle moment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Braun now chairs the 12-member Women\u2019s Basketball Committee. It\u2019s a prestigious position and a tremendous honor, and it illustrates the high regard in which she is held nationally.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially at this time, when (the women\u2019s game) has just taken a leap, it\u2019s so neat being on this committee,\u201d she said. \u201cIt means a lot to me personally, and professionally it\u2019s a cool opportunity. It\u2019s a pretty desirable position, and so I\u2019m really proud to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The committee members are assigned to conferences and will spend the 2025-26 season watching and evaluating teams. Then, from March 11-16, they\u2019ll meet in Indianapolis to select, seed and draw up brackets for the 68 teams that will comprise the NCAA DI tournament field.<\/p>\n
As one can imagine, it\u2019s a mind-numbing grind in which the committee members pore over reams of data in all-day meetings, engage in spirited debate and strive to produce the best possible field and the most equitable seeding and bracketing.<\/p>\n