The 2022 NCAA DI women’s college basketball bracket will be revealed during the selection show on Monday, March 14. It will be broadcast on ESPN at a time TBD.
Here’s the complete schedule for the tournament:
- First- and second-round games will be played Friday, March 18, through Monday, March 21, at top-16 seeds.
- Regionals are March 25-28
- The Final Four is April 1 and the national championship game is April 3 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
| 2022 NCAA DI WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | City | Venue | Dates | Host |
| Selections | N/A | ESPN broadcast | Monday, March 14 | N/A |
| First | TBD | TBD | March 18-19 | TBD |
| Second | TBD | TBD | March 20-21 | TBD |
| Regional | Bridgeport, Conn. | Webster Bank Arena | March 25 – 28 | UConn / Fairfield |
| Regional | Greensboro, N.C. | Greensboro Coliseum | March 25 – 28 | ACC |
| Regional | Spokane, Wash. | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena | March 25 – 28 | Idaho |
| Regional | Wichita, Kan. | Intrust Bank Arena | March 25 – 28 | Wichita State |
| Final Four | Minneapolis, Minn. | Target Center | April 1 | |
| Championship game | Minneapolis, Minn. | Target Center | April 3 | |
Here is more on the selection process.
How are the teams selected for the bracket?
The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament requires 64 teams to compete in a single-elimination tournament. Those seeds can be earned through automatic or at-large bids.
Traditionally, 32 teams can earn an automatic bid to play in the NCAA tournament. In 2021, 31 teams earned automatic bids. Each automatic qualifier gets in by winning its conference tournament, regardless of their regular-season performance.
The remaining teams can be selected at an at-large bid to play in the tournament. These are teams that did not win their conference tournament, but earned a championship invite. The invitations are announced on Selection Monday.
How does the committee decide which teams get an at-large bid?
Several stats, rankings and other factors are taken into consideration by the Selection Committee, but there is no set formula that determines whether a team receives an at-large bid or not.
What is the selection committee?
The 10-member Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Committee is made up of athletic directors and conference commissioners. They are responsible for selecting, seeding and bracketing the field for the NCAA tournament.
What happens once the teams are selected?
In a normal season, the final 64 teams are split into one of four regions (East, South, Midwest and West). That puts 16 teams in each region that will be ranked 1 through 16.
The No.1 seed will go up against the No. 16 seed. Next, the No. 2 seed will go against the No. 15 seed, which is the next highest versus the next lowest seed, and so on. Usually, this means that the top teams have the easiest opening matchup in the bracket.
How can you watch the NCAA women’s basketball tournament:
NCAA women’s basketball tournament games can be found on ESPN networks.
TITLE COUNT: The 7 schools with the most DI women’s basketball national championships
Here is the complete list of teams who have won the DI national championship:
NCAA women’s basketball tournament: Champions, history
| YEAR | CHAMPION (RECORD) | COACH | SCORE | RUNNER-UP | SITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Stanford (31-2) | Tara VanderVeer | 54-53 | Arizona | San Antonio, Texas |
| 2019 | Baylor (37-1) | Kim Mulkey | 82-81 | Notre Dame | Tampa, Fla. |
| 2018 | Notre Dame (34-3) | Muffet McGraw | 61-58 | Mississippi State | Columbus, Ohio |
| 2017 | South Carolina (33-4) | Dawn Staley | 67-55 | Mississippi State | Dallas, Texas |
| 2016 | Connecticut (38-0) | Geno Auriemma | 82-51 | Syracuse | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 2015 | Connecticut (38-1) | Geno Auriemma | 63-53 | Notre Dame | Tampa, Fla. |
| 2014 | Connecticut (40-0) | Geno Auriemma | 79-58 | Notre Dame | Nashville, Tenn. |
| 2013 | Connecticut (35-4) | Geno Auriemma | 93-60 | Louisville | New Orleans, La. |
| 2012 | Baylor (40-0) | Kim Mulkey | 80-61 | Notre Dame | Denver, Colo. |
| 2011 | Texas A&M (33-5) | Gary Blair | 76-70 | Notre Dame | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 2010 | Connecticut (39-0) | Geno Auriemma | 53-47 | Stanford | San Antonio, Texas |
| 2009 | Connecticut (39-0) | Geno Auriemma | 76-54 | Louisville | St. Louis, Mo. |
| 2008 | Tennessee (36-2) | Pat Summitt | 64-48 | Stanford | Tampa, Fla. |
| 2007 | Tennessee (34-3) | Pat Summitt | 59-46 | Rutgers | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2006 | Maryland (34-4) | Brenda Frese | 78-75 (OT) | Duke | Boston, Mass. |
| 2005 | Baylor (33-3) | Kim Mulkey | 84-62 | Michigan State | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 2004 | Connecticut (31-4) | Geno Auriemma | 70-61 | Tennessee | New Orleans, La. |
| 2003 | Connecticut (37-1) | Geno Auriemma | 73-68 | Tennessee | Atlanta, Ga. |
| 2002 | Connecticut (39-0) | Geno Auriemma | 82-70 | Oklahoma | San Antonio, Texas |
| 2001 | Notre Dame (34-2) | Muffet McGraw | 68-66 | Purdue | St. Louis, Mo. |
| 2000 | Connecticut (36-1) | Geno Auriemma | 71-52 | Tennessee | Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 1999 | Purdue (34-1) | Carolyn Peck | 62-45 | Duke | San Jose, Calif. |
| 1998 | Tennessee (39-0) | Pat Summitt | 93-75 | Louisiana Tech | Kansas City, Mo. |
| 1997 | Tennessee (29-10) | Pat Summitt | 68-59 | Old Dominion | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 1996 | Tennessee (32-4) | Pat Summitt | 83-65 | Georgia | Charlotte, N.C. |
| 1995 | Connecticut (35-0) | Geno Auriemma | 70-64 | Tennessee | Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 1994 | North Carolina (33-2) | Sylvia Hatchell | 60-59 | Louisiana Tech | Richmond, Va. |
| 1993 | Texas Tech (31-3) | Marsha Sharp | 84-82 | Ohio State | Atlanta, Ga. |
| 1992 | Stanford (30-3) | Tara VanDerveer | 78-62 | Western Kentucky | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| 1991 | Tennessee (30-5) | Pat Summitt | 70-67 (OT) | Virginia | New Orleans, La. |
| 1990 | Stanford (32-1) | Tara VanDerveer | 88-81 | Auburn | Knoxville, Tenn. |
| 1989 | Tennessee (35-2) | Pat Summitt | 76-60 | Auburn | Tacoma, Wash. |
| 1988 | Louisiana Tech (32-2) | Leon Barmore | 56-54 | Auburn | Tacoma, Wash. |
| 1987 | Tennessee (28-6) | Pat Summitt | 67-44 | Louisiana Tech | Austin, Texas |
| 1986 | Texas (34-0) | Jody Conradt | 97-81 | Southern California | Lexington, Ky. |
| 1985 | Old Dominion (31-3) | Marianne Stanley | 70-65 | Georgia | Austin, Texas |
| 1984 | Southern California (29-4) | Linda Sharp | 72-61 | Tennessee | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| 1983 | Southern California (31-2) | Linda Sharp | 69-67 | Louisiana Tech | Norfolk, Va. |
| 1982 | Louisiana Tech (35-1) | Sonja Hogg | 76-62 | Cheyney | Norfolk, Va. |