NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

Current season, competition or edition: 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1982; 44 years ago (1982)
First season	1982
Organizing body	NCAA
No. of teams	68
Most recent champions	UConn (12th title) (2025)
Most titles	UConn (12)
Broadcasters	ABC,ESPN,ESPN2,ESPNU,ESPNEWS
Streaming partner	ESPN+
Level on pyramid	1
Official website	ncaa.com/basketball

TheNCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to asWomen's March Madness,^[1] is asingle-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women'scollege basketball teams from theDivision I level of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship.

The tournament was preceded by theAIAW women's basketball tournament, which was organized by theAssociation for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1972 to 1982. Basketball was one of 12 women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the AIAW for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same 12 (and other) sports; however, after a year of dual women's championships, the NCAA prevailed, while the AIAW disbanded.

As of 2022, the tournament follows the same format andselection process as itsmen's counterpart, with 32automatic bids awarded to the champions of the Division I conferences, and 36 "at-large bids" extended by the NCAA Selection Committee, which are placed into four regional divisions and seeded from 1 to 16. The four lowest-seeded automatic bids, and the four lowest-seeded at-large bids, compete in theFirst Four games to advance to the 64-teambracket in the first round. The national semi-finals, branded as theWomen's Final Four, are traditionally scheduled on the same weekend as the men's Final Four, but in a different host city. Presently, the Women's Final Four uses a Friday/Sunday scheduling, with its games occurring one day prior to the men's Final Four and championship, respectively.^[2]

Attendance and interest in the women's championship have grown over the years, especially from 2003 to 2016, when the final championship game was moved to the Tuesday following the Mondaymen's championship game.^[2] The tournament is often overshadowed by the more-prominent men's tournament; after agender equality review following the2021 tournament, the NCAA expanded it to the current 68-team format of the men's tournament and extended the "March Madness" branding to the tournament as well. The2024 women's championship was the first to receive higher viewership than the men's championship the same year. Still, the tournament receives a smaller amount of funding from broadcast rights (which are held byESPN, and are pooled with those of other NCAA Division I championships besides golf and men's basketball) and sponsorship (which are sold byCBS and Turner Sports) than the men's tournament.

With 12 national titles, theUConn Huskies hold the record for the most NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships, which included four straight championships from 2013 through 2016.^[3] The team had also made the semi-finals for 14 consecutive tournaments. TheTennessee Lady Volunteers are the only team to make an appearance in every tournament since its founding in 1982.^[4]

From 1982 to 1990, 1996 to 2002, 2017 to 2019, and since 2021, the Women's Final Four is usually played on the Friday before the Men's Final Four or the hours before the men played on the final Saturday of the tournament. The final, since 2023, is played the Sunday afternoon following the Men's Final Four; from 2017 to 2019, 2021 and 2022, it was Sunday evening.

Thetournament bracket is made up of champions from eachDivision I conference, which are automatic bids. The remaining slots areat-large bids, with teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee. Theselection process and tournament seedings are based on several factors, including team rankings, win–loss records, andNET data.

Since 2022, 68 teams qualify for the tournament played in March and April. Of these teams, 32 earn automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments. Since 2017 theIvy League conducts its ownpost-season tournament. The remaining teams are granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by theNCAA Selection Committee. Dr. Marilyn McNeil, vice president/director of athletics atMonmouth University is the current chairwoman. On March 1, 2011,Bowling Green State University's director of intercollegiate athletics, Greg Christopher, was appointed chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee during the 2011–12 academic year.^[5]

The tournament begins with four opening-round games known as the First Four. Like the men's version, the women's First Four involves the four lowest-ranked conference champions playing for 16 seeds in the round of 64, and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams playing for their own spots in the round of 64.^[6]

The tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible.^{[citation needed]} The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, etc. (meaning that all first-round games involve teams whose seeds add up to 17).

The first NCAA women's basketball tournament was held in1982. TheAIAW also held a basketball tournament in 1982, but most of the top teams, including defending AIAW championLouisiana Tech, decided to participate in the NCAA tournament.

The championship consisted of 32 teams from 1982 to 1985 (in 1983, 36), 40 teams from 1986 to 1988, and 48 teams from 1989 to 1993. From 1994 to 2021, 64 teams competed in each tournament. From 2022, the tournament will involve 68 teams, matching the size of the D-I men's tournament.

Prior to 1996, seeding was conducted on a regional basis. The top teams (eight in the 32-, 40-, and 48-team formats, and 16 in the 64-team format) were ranked and seeded on a national basis. The remaining teams were then seeded based on their geographic region. Teams were moved outside of its geographic region only if it was necessary to balance the bracket, or if the proximity of an opponent outside of its region would be comparable and a more competitive game would result. In 1993, all teams except for the top four were explicitly unseeded. The regional seeding resumed in 1994. In 1996, seeds were assigned on a national basis using an "S-Curve" format^{[clarification needed]} similar to the process used in selecting the field for the men's tournament.

The following table summarizes some of the key attributes of the seeding process:^[7]

A special selection committee appointed by the NCAA determines which 68 teams will enter the tournament, and where they will be seeded and placed in the bracket. Because of the automatic bids, only 36 teams (the at-large bids) rely on the selection committee to secure them a spot in the tournament.

UConn

Tennessee

Baylor

Stanford

Louisiana Tech

USC

Notre
Dame

LSU

Maryland

North
Carolina

Old Dominion

Purdue

South
Carolina

Texas

Texas
A&M

Texas
Tech

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Schools that have won the NCAA Division I women's basketball championship
12, 8, 3, 2, 1

Note: Conferences are listed by all champions' affiliations at that time; these do not necessarily match current affiliations.

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

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NCAA Final Four locations (hover over city to see arena)

Two hundred and eighty-three teams have appeared in the NCAA tournament in at least one year starting with 1982 (the initial year that the post-season tournament was under the auspices of the NCAA). The results for all years are shown in this table below.^[4]

•  CH  National Champion
•  RU  National Runner-up
•  F4  Final Four
•  E8  Elite Eight
•  16  Sweet Sixteen
•  32  Round of 32
•  ✖  Round of 64 (Fewer than 64 teams invited before 1994.)
•  ƒ  First Four (First played in 2022.)
•  16  32  ✖  The team achieved the placement shown, but the participation was later vacated. These vacated appearances are not included in the total columns.

Programs are listed below under their current athletic branding, which is not necessarily what was used at the time. For example,Missouri State reached two Final Fours while known as "Southwest Missouri State".

For each season, the team's seed is shown in superscript to the left of the result.