A scheduling showdown is brewing in women’s basketball, pitting the professional league against its collegiate counterpart in a battle for the spotlight this March. A renowned analyst feels it can only lead to chaos.

The WNBA set March 10 as the CBA deadline. With March Madness coming up, the WNBA and WNBPA are still locked in the CBA negotiations. The WNBA will only go ahead on time if a deal is agreed to on or before March 10. But the dates roughly coincide with Selection Sunday. It’s the time of the Final Four, and all eyes will be on NCAA Division I women’s basketball.

Chantel Jennings, an analyst, discussed the issue on the No Offseason podcast. “I mean, I think this is sort of what we were talking about from the beginning, like is this going to be protracted enough that it’s going to sort of butt up with the meat of what so many people are waiting for in the college basketball season, which is March Madness in the Final Four.”

Jennings further noted that women’s college basketball remains the larger cultural draw, stating: “Despite the immense growth and popularity boom of the WNBA, women’s college basketball is still a higher viewership draw.”

The numbers tell the whole story. Last year, 24 million people watched women’s college basketball. The average number of people who watched the WNBA Finals was 1.5 million. The WNBA gave players $8 million and made $16 million in revenue sharing, but college basketball is still the most popular sport.

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Jennings found a scheduling problem that would last longer than March. The expansion draft for Toronto and Portland would take place on April 6, which is also the day the college transfer portal opens. “We’ll have college free agency and WNBA free agency all happening at the same time,” Jennings explained.

“And you can imagine sort of as all of this is happening, you’ll have these huge WNBA free agents, but we also know how much attention the biggest free agents in college basketball [get] when [it’s a] really, really wild time for women’s basketball fans.”

Women’s March Madness 2026 arrives while CBA negotiations continue

Despite the compressed WNBA timeline, women’s college basketball is still moving forward with its biggest tournament. The conference races are getting more intense, and Selection Sunday is March 15. The full 68-team bracket will be revealed at 8 p.m. ET.

The first four games start on March 18 and 19, kicking off the tournament that will be the focus of sports news until April. This March Madness showcase is exactly what analysts are worried about: a lot of college basketball news coming out right when the WNBA needs it most.

The first round of games will take place on March 20 and 21. The second round will take place on March 22 and 23. The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will take place in Fort Worth and Sacramento from March 27 to 30. The Final Four starts on April 3, and the National Championship game is on April 5.