Five teams you need to know ahead of the Women’s NCAA Tournament
It’s almost time for March Madness and Mackenzie Salmon has a quick breakdown of five teams you need to know ahead of Selection Sunday.
The women’s college basketball bracket reveal starts tonight on the Selection Sunday show. It will determine which 68 teams will make it to March Madness 2024. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is poised for another Final Four run after her landmark season where she broke Pete Maravich’s all-time scoring record. LSU’s Angel Reese, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers and South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao are hoping to stand in the way of her first national title. USA TODAY Sports will provide the latest women’s bracket reveal updates, news, analysis and more throughout the day. Follow along.
Selection Sunday for women’s college basketball is today at 8 p.m. ET. (Looking for coverage of the men’s March Madness bracket reveal? Go here.)
ESPN is airing the bracket reveal for women’s March Madness.
You can find USA TODAY Sports’ bracket for women’s March Madness here. It will update as seeds are revealed during the Selection Sunday show, which starts at 8 p.m. ET.
Women’s March Madness 2024 schedule
Here is the women’s schedule:
- Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 17 on ESPN
- First Four: March 20-21
- First round: March 22-23
- Second round: March 24-25
- Sweet 16: March 29-30
- Elite Eight: March 31-April 1
- Final Four: Friday, April 5 at 7:30 and 9 p.m. ET on ESPN
- NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC
Caitlin Clark is must-see TV, JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo are her heirs apparent, and the big question ahead of Selection Sunday is whether top-seeded South Carolina and LSU might fight, err, face each other again in the Final Four. — Nancy Armour
Like with the 2023 tournament, the 2024 tournament will feature two super regionals, with two 16-team brackets at each regional, which are in Portland, Ore., and Albany, N.Y. Here are all the venues we know are hosting tournament games over the next several weeks. Location and venues for the First Four and first and second rounds will be determined on Selection Sunday.
| Round | Location | Venue | Dates |
| First Four | TBD | TBD | March 20-21 |
| First round | TBD | TBD | March 22-23 |
| Second round | TBD | TBD | March 24-25 |
| Sweet 16 | Portland | Moda Center | March 29-30 |
| Sweet 16 | Albany, N.Y. | Times Union Center | March 29-30 |
| Elite Eight | Portland | Moda Center | March 31-April 1 |
| Elite Eight | Albany, N.Y. | Times Union Center | March 31-April 1 |
| Final Four | Cleveland | Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse | April 5 |
| National championship | Cleveland | Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse | April 7 |
What day does women’s March Madness start?
Games for the women’s First Four are March 20-21. First-round games for the women are March 22-23.
How to watch women’s March Madness 2024
ESPN will air the Selection Sunday show. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews and ABC will broadcast games in the first and second rounds, the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. ESPN will show Final Four games. ABC will air the national championship game.
NCAA Tournament automatic bids for women’s March Madness 2024
There are 32 conference tournaments that produce 32 automatic bids for the women’s NCAA Tournament. The other 36 at-large teams selected to the field will be announced on Selection Sunday.
- American Athletic: Rice
- Atlantic 10: Richmond
- America East: Maine
- ASUN: Florida Gulf Coast
- ACC: Notre Dame
- Big East: UConn
- Big Sky: Eastern Washington
- Big 12: Texas
- Big South: Presbyterian
- Big Ten: Iowa
- Big West: UC Irvine
- CAA: Drexel
- Conference USA: Middle Tennessee
- Horizon: Green Bay
- Ivy League: Princeton
- MAAC: Fairfield
- MAC: Kent State
- MEAC: Norfolk State
- Missouri Valley: Drake
- Mountain West: UNLV
- Northeast: Sacred Heart
- Ohio Valley: UT Martin
- Pac-12: USC
- Patriot: Holy Cross
- SEC: South Carolina
- SoCon: Chattanooga
- Summit: South Dakota State
- Southland: TAMU-Corpus Christi
- Sun Belt: Marshall
- SWAC: Jackson State
- West Coast Conference: Portland
- WAC: Cal Baptist
Caitlin Clark is the reigning national player of the year, a sharpshooting supernova with a penchant for launching 3-pointers from the logo, flicking no-look passes through defenders’ arms and talking trash to any and all who stand in her way. Iowa is expected to earn a top four seed in the NCAA tournament, and host the first two rounds. A year after leading Iowa to the national championship game, Clark is trying to get back to her second consecutive Final Four, an accomplishment few players have achieved. USA TODAY Sports has been tracking her game closely. In case you need to brush up on your Clark trivia, we’ve got you covered with our complete guide to all things Clark.
How does Selection Sunday work?
On Selection Sunday, the full women’s bracket will be revealed on ESPN, along with matchups and locations for every first-round game. A 12-person selection committee decides who will be in the tournament, as well as where each team is seeded and plays. Lisa Peterson, the Pac-12’s senior associate commissioner for sports management, is the chairperson for the women’s committee. She was at the women’s Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas, where many believe USC secured a No. 1 seed with its upset of Stanford in the tournament championship game. Here’s everything you need to know about how Selection Sunday works.
How many teams make women’s March Madness?
There will be 68 teams that make the tournament, including the eight teams that will have to play in the First Four games. Here’s everything you need to know about how Selection Sunday works.
Who won the women’s Big Ten tournament?
Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes captured a third consecutive Big Ten tournament title in a thrilling, back-and-forth overtime game that ended with Iowa exacting some revenge on the Nebraska Cornhuskers and pulling out a 94-89 win.
Who won the women’s SEC tournament?
Top-ranked South Carolina beat No. 5 LSU 79-72 to win Dawn Staley’s eighth SEC championship in 10 years. It was a tense matchup against Kim Mulkey and the defending national champions. The Gamecocks remain undefeated and improved to 32-0 after a near-brawl interrupted the fourth quarter for 20 minutes.
Who won the women’s Pac 12 tournament?
McKenzie Forbes scored 26 points and No. 8 Southern California beat No. 2 Stanford 74-61 to win the Pac-12 Tournament championship and earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Trojans (26-5) played in the championship game for the first time since 2014, when they also defeated Stanford. That was their only other tournament title. USC freshman sensation JuJu Watkins had a frustrating game, finishing with nine points on 2-of-15 shooting. It was the first time she didn’t score in double figures.
Cameron Brink led the Cardinal (28-5) with 19 points, while Kiki Iriafen added 18. — AP
Who won the women’s ACC tournament?
Freshman Hannah Hidalgo proved plenty old enough, plenty bold enough and plenty gold enough to lead Notre Dame women’s basketball to the ACC tournament title with a 55-51 win over NC State. Hidalgo scored 22 points, dealt six assists, collected six rebounds, grabbed two fourth-quarter steals and — get this, having the rock in her hand more than anybody — finished with no turnovers. — Anthony Anderson, correspondent
Who won the women’s Big East Tournament?
Paige Bueckers scored 27 points and had five blocks to help No. 10 UConn beat Georgetown 78-42 to win its 22nd Big East Tournament title. It was the 29th title overall for the Huskies, who haven’t lost in a conference championship contest since 2013, when Notre Dame beat them for the Big East title. — Doug Feinberg, AP
Who won the women’s Big 12 tournament?
Texas defeated Iowa state, 70-53, to capture the Big 12 tournament title. Madison Booker led the Longhorns with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
How are women’s March Madness bids determined?
There are several different resources for the committee to choose the best 36 at-large teams, such as record and strength of schedule. But perhaps the most important one is the NET ranking. The NET ranking looks at a team’s record and résumé, which then ranks all teams in Division I. Bubble teams with a high NET (top 25-50) should feel good about their chances, especially if they have a handful of wins over other Top 25 NET teams.
An important note with the women’s tournament: the selection committee does not consider “quad” wins like the men. The women have five categories instead. The committee puts together “team sheets” as they select at-large teams, and the categories the selection committee considers are wins/losses vs:
- NET 1-25
- NET 26-50
- NET 51-100
- NET 101-200
- NET 201+
According to the NCAA website, the committee also considers the following: Bad losses, common opponents, competitive in losses, conference record, early performance versus late performance, head-to-head, NET ranking, non-conference record, observable component, overall record, regional rankings, significant wins and strength of schedule.
Considering the NET ranking and other factors, the committee will then come up with the 36 best at-large teams to be selected. There are no limits on how many teams from a certain conference get selected. Here’s everything you need to know about how Selection Sunday works.
How are women’s March Madness seeds determined?
After the committee selects the 68 teams to be in the tournament, it ranks all of them 1 through 68. Once all the teams are ranked, every four teams are evaluated in the same seed line. Example: Nos. 1-4 will be the No. 1 seeds, Nos. 5-8 will be the No. 2 seeds and so on. The four lowest-ranked automatic qualifying teams will play in the First Four games as 16 seeds, while the four lowest at-large teams will compete in the other First Four games, typically as a No. 11 or No. 12 seed. Here’s everything you need to know about how Selection Sunday works.
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Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
