NCAA Division I Women's Tournament
From Hoopedia
The tournament bracket is made up of champions from each Division I conference, which receive automatic bids. The remaining slots are at-large bids, with teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee. The selection process and tournament seedings are based on several factors, including team rankings, win-loss records and Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) data.
Unlike the men's tournament, there are only 33 at-large bids, and no play-in game. The women's tournament, like the men's, is staged in a single elimination format, and is part of the media and public frenzy known colloquially as "March Madness". It is one of the most followed sporting events in the United States.
All 63 games have been broadcast on television since 2003 on ESPN and ESPN2. Similar to men's tournament coverage on CBS, local teams are shown on each channel when available, with "whip-around" coverage designed to showcase the most competitive contests in the rest of the country.
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Tournament Format History
The women's basketball championship originally began as a function of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. In 1982, the NCAA began its tournament, which resulted in the AIAW dissolving.
- 1982-1985: 32 teams
- 1987-1988: 40 teams
- 1989-1993: 48 teams
- 1994-present: 64 teams
Prior to 1996, seeding was conducted on a regional basis. The top teams (eight in the 32-, 40-, and 48-team format, 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 and teams were moved outside of its geographic region only if necessary to balance the bracket, or if the proximity of an opponent outside of its region would be comparable and a better competitive matchup would result. In 1993, the teams below seed #4 were explicitly unseeded. The regional seeding resumed in 1994. In 1996, seeds were placed on a national basis using an "S-Curve" format similar to the process used in selecting the field for the men's tournament.
Selection process
A special selection committee appointed by the NCAA determines which 64 teams will enter the tournament, and where they will be seeded and placed in the bracket. Because of the automatic bids, only 33 teams (the at-large bids) rely on the selection committee to secure them a spot in the tournament.
Women's Division I basketball champions
Multiple national championships won
- Tennessee - 8
- UConn - 5
- Stanford - 2
- Louisiana Tech - 2
- Southern California - 2
Multiple championship coaches
- Pat Summitt, Tennessee - 8
- Geno Auriemma, UConn - 5
- Tara VanDerveer, Stanford - 2
- Linda Sharp, Southern California - 2
