The 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament involves 68 teams in a single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2025âÂÂ26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 44th edition of the tournament began on March 18, 2026, with the First Four, and will conclude with the championship game on April 5, at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) champion Charleston was the only program in the field to make its NCAA tournament debut. With just one tournament debutant, the 2026 NCAA Tournament set the record for the fewest tournament debutants (the previous low was two, in the 1998 and 2017 editions).
Unlike the 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, which Stanford did qualify for after missing the 2017 tournament, Stanford didn't qualify for second consecutive season after missing it in 2025.
Atlantic 10 champion Rhode Island made its second-ever appearance and its first since 1996. MAC champion Miami (OH) made its second-ever appearance and its first since 2008. American champion UTSA made its third-ever appearance and its first time since 2009. Southern champion Samford made its third-ever appearance, its first since 2012. Atlantic Sun champion Jacksonville made its third-ever appearance, its first since 2016. Ohio Valley champion Western Illinois made its third-ever appearance, its first since 2017.
Tournament procedure
A total of 68 teams were invited to participate in the 2026 tournament, consisting of the 31 conference champions and 37 "at-large" bids that were determined by the NCAA Selection Committee. The last four at-large teams and teams seeded 65 through 68 overall competed in First Four games, whose winners advanced to the 64-team first round.
The top 16 seeds hosted the First Four, first round, and second round at their home arenas. In a procedural change, new for this tournament, the top 16 seeds were announced in alphabetical order on Saturday, March 15, ahead of the full bracket reveal that was announced on Sunday, March 16. This was done to give host sites more time to prepare and organize the logistics required to host.
2026 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
First Four
Subregionals (First and Second Rounds)
- March 20 and 22 (Fri/Sun)
- Carmichael Arena, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
- Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma (Host: University of Oklahoma)
- Schollmaier Arena, Fort Worth, Texas (Host: Texas Christian University)
- Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
- Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina (Host: Duke University)
- Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana State University)
- Moody Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin)
- Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Host: University of Michigan)
- March 21 and 23 (Sat/Mon)
- Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)
- Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio (Host: Ohio State University)
- Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University)
- Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina (Host: University of South Carolina)
- CarverâÂÂHawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa (Host: University of Iowa)
- Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: University of California, Los Angeles)
- Hope Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia (Host: West Virginia University)
- KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)
Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)
Phoenix is scheduled to host the women's Final Four for the first time.
Qualification and selection of teams
Automatic qualifiers
Teams who won their conference championships (31) automatically qualify.
<span id="RegionSeeds">Seeds</span>
<section begin="RegionSeeds" /> The tournament seeds and regions are determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and will be published by the selection committee after the brackets are released in March.
<nowiki>*</nowiki>See First Four<br/> Source:<section end="RegionSeeds" />
Tournament bracket
All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (). Games on ESPN ABC, ESPN2, and ESPNU are also on ESPN+.
First Four
The First Four games involve eight teams: the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams.
Fort Worth #1 regional â Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth #1 regional final
Fort Worth #1 regional all-tournament team
Sacramento #4 regional â Sacramento, California
Sacramento #4 regional final
Sacramento #4 regional all-tournament team
Sacramento #2 regional â Sacramento, California
Sacramento #2 regional final
Sacramento #2 regional all-tournament team
Fort Worth #3 regional â Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth #3 regional final
Fort Worth #3 regional all-tournament team
Final Four â Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix, AZ
During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region (UConn, Ft. Worth #1 Region) plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region (South Carolina, Sacramento #4 Region), and the champion of the second overall top seed's region (UCLA, Sacramento #2 Region) plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region (Texas, Ft. Worth #3 Region).
Game summaries
Final Four (National semifinals)
National championship (Final)
Final Four all-tournament team
Tournament notes
Upsets
Per the NCAA, an upset occurs "when the losing team in an NCAA tournament game was seeded at least five seed lines better than the winning team."
The only upset in this tournament occurred when No. 2 seed Iowa lost at home to No. 10 seed Virginia in two overtimes in the round of 32.
Tournament records
Game officials
First Four
- Cara Seggie, Timothy Bryant, Doug Knight
- Eric Koch, Kylie Galloway, Nicole Brannon
- Cameron Inouye, Brian Woods, Alecia Ann Murray
First and second rounds
- Joseph Vaszily, Lorena Ahumada, Talisa Green
- Angie Enlund, Kevin Pethtel, Kenya Kirkland
- Kyle Bacon, Toni Patillo, Demoya Pugh
- Tim Daley, Scott Berkins, Ashley Olsen
- Felicia Grinter, Marla Gearhart, Jody Cantrell
- Eric Brewton, Teresa Turner, Felicity Willis
- Bruce Morris, Angelica Suffren, Angel Kent
- Darren Krzesnik, Marc Merritt, Katie Lukanich
- Ify Seales, In'Fini Robinson, Tashianna Smith
- Maj Forsberg, Bill Larance, Lee Mullen
- Chuck Gonzalez, Nykesha Thompson, Lauren Niemiera
- Kevin Sparrock, Brian Hall, Kelly Broomfield
- Michol Murray, Zac Brost, Kimberly Hobbes
- Eric Koch, Jamie Broderick, Saif Esho
- Billy Smith, Kristen Bell, Scott Osborne
- Kelsey Reynolds, Mark Resch, Ashlee Goode
Regional semifinals and final (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)
National semifinals and final (Final Four and National Championship)
Record by conference
- The R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 64 (second round), round of 32 (third round), Sweet 16 and Elite Eight (regional semifinals and finals), Final Four and championship game (national semifinal and final), and national champion, respectively.
- The "Record" column includes wins in the first round (First Four) for Nebraska (Big Ten), Virginia (ACC), Southern (SWAC), and Missouri State (C-USA).
- The "Record" column also includes losses in the first round (First Four) for Richmond (A-10), Arizona State (Big 12), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), and Samford (SoCon).
Media coverage
Television
ESPN has the rights to broadcast each of the games in the tournament across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, and ABC. For the fourth consecutive season, the national championship game will air on ABC.
Studio hosts and analysts
- Christine Williamson (host) (first four, first/second rounds, regionals, Final Four, and national championship)
- Kelsey Riggs Cuff (host) (first round and regionals)
- Taylor Tannebaum (host) (first/second rounds)
- Andraya Carter (analyst) (first four, first/second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship)
- Chiney Ogwumike (analyst) (first/second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship)
- Muffet McGraw (analyst) (first/second rounds and regionals)
- Meghan McKeown (analyst) (first/second rounds and regionals)
- Dee Kantner (rules analyst) (first four, first/second rounds, regionals, Final Four, and national championship)
- Violet Palmer (rules analyst) (first four, first/second rounds, and regionals)
Commentary teams
First Four
first & second rounds; Friday-Sunday (Subregionals)
- Mark Neely and Angel Gray â Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Sam Gore and Tamika Catchings â Norman, Oklahoma
- Chuckie Kempf and Brooke Weisbrod â Fort Worth, Texas
- Krista Blunk and Andrea Lloyd-Curry â Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Jenn Hildreth and Kelly Gramlich â Durham, North Carolina
- Tiffany Greene, Carolyn Peck, and Alyssa Lang â Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Dave O'Brien and Jimmy Dykes â Austin, Texas
- Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli, and Jess Sims â Ann Arbor, Michigan
first & second rounds Saturday/Monday (Subregionals)
- Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe â Storrs, Connecticut
- Roy Philpott and Nell Fortner â Columbus, Ohio
- Jay Alter and Kim Adams â Nashville, Tennessee
- Mike Monaco, Stephanie White and Molly McGrath â Columbia, South Carolina (Courtney Lyle was scheduled for these games)
- Matt Schumacker and Ros Gold-Onwude â Iowa City, Iowa
- Eric Frede and Christy Thomaskutty â Los Angeles, California (UCLA)
- Brenda VanLengen and Anne OâÂÂNeil â Morgantown, West Virginia
- Wes Durham and Angela Taylor â Louisville, Kentucky
Regional semifinals and final (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)
- Tiffany Greene, Carolyn Peck, and Angel Gray â Fort Worth, Texas (Regional 1 â Sweet 16 games only)
- Courtney Lyle, Stephanie White, and Kris Budden â Sacramento, California (Regional 4)
- Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli, and Jess Sims â Sacramento, California (Regional 2)
- Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe â Fort Worth, Texas (Regional 3 â Sweet 16/Regionals 1 & 3 â Elite Eight)
National semifinals and finals (Final Four and National Championship)
- Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe â Phoenix, Arizona
Radio
Westwood One will serve as radio broadcaster of the tournament.
Regional semifinals and final (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)
- Nate Gatter and Kim Adams â Fort Worth, Texas 1
- Sam Neidermann and Debbie Antonelli â Sacramento, California 4
- Lance Medow and Mary Murphy â Sacramento, California 2
- Danny Reed and Isis Young â Fort Worth, Texas 3
National semifinal and finals (Final Four and National Championship)
Television ratings
Most watched tournament games
See also
References