Ayrton Oneill
The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament is an annual event that attracts a lot of attention from basketball fans across the country. The tournament features 68 teams in a single-elimination format, with the winning team crowned the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's basketball national champion for that season. The tournament usually begins in mid-March, with the 2024 edition starting on March 20 and concluding on April 7.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date | 20 March 2024 - 7 April 2024 |
| Teams | 68 |
| Team Examples | Iowa, South Carolina, Southern Indiana, UT Martin |
| Debut Teams | Big South champion Presbyterian, Southland champion Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, WAC champion California Baptist, At-large bid Columbia, Big Sky champion Eastern Washington, Big West champion UC Irvine, Sun Belt champion Marshall |
| Location | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio |
| Broadcasters | ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ABC, Westwood One |
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What You'll Learn
The 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament dates
The 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a 68-team single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The tournament began on March 20, 2024, and concluded with the championship game on April 7, 2024, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
This was the 42nd edition of the tournament. The sixty-eight teams came from thirty-four states. Thirty-two conferences earned an automatic bid, and thirty-six additional at-large teams were selected from twelve of these conferences. The First Four games involved eight teams: the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams. The tournament seeds and regions were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and were published by the selection committee after the brackets were released on March 17.
The Albany 2 regional final between Iowa and LSU was a rematch of the previous year's national championship game. It drew the largest audience ever for a women's college basketball game, as well as the most-watched college basketball game in ESPN's 45-year history. Iowa's national semifinal match with Connecticut broke this record, becoming the most-watched basketball game at any level on ESPN. The Championship game broke records once more, becoming the most-watched basketball game since 2019, including the NBA, and the most-watched non-primetime basketball game since 1992.
Westwood One served as the radio broadcaster of the tournament. ESPN also broadcast each game across its channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, or ABC.
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Tournament structure and team qualification
The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States. The tournament features 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The tournament is used to determine the national championship.
The tournament bracket is made up of champions from each Division I conference, which are automatic bids. The remaining slots are "at-large" bids, with teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee. Of the 68 teams, 32 earn automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments. The Ivy League has conducted its own post-season tournament since 2017. The remaining teams are granted "at-large" bids, which are determined by the NCAA Selection Committee.
The last four at-large teams and teams seeded 65 through 68 overall compete in First Four games, whose winners advance to the 64-team first round. The first two rounds, also referred to as the subregionals, are played at the sites of the top 16 seeds. The First Four games are played before the start of the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. The top 16 seeds host the first weekend of tournament games, as well as the First Four.
The regional semifinals and finals—the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight—are held at two sites, with eight teams competing at each. The tournament then moves on to the Final Four and the championship game.
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Locations and hosts
The 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was hosted by thirty-two conferences, with thirty-six additional at-large teams selected from twelve conferences. The tournament began on March 20, 2024, and concluded on April 7, 2024, with the championship game held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. This was Cleveland's second time hosting the women's Final Four, with the first taking place in 2007.
The tournament featured sixty-eight teams from thirty-four states, including Big South champion Presbyterian, Southland champion Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, WAC champion California Baptist, and at-large bid Columbia, all of whom made their NCAA tournament debuts.
The Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut, hosted the Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight). The University of Connecticut served as the host for these rounds.
The Albany Regional was hosted by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Siena College at the MVP Arena in Albany, New York.
The Portland Regional took place at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, with Oregon State University as the host. This venue hosted the National Semifinals and Championship rounds (Final Four and Championship).
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Broadcasters
The broadcasting history of the women's basketball tournament is a tumultuous one. The first Division 1 NCAA women's basketball tournament was held in 1982. At the time, the AIAW tournament, which had previously been a powerhouse, lost its appeal and popularity when former AIAW leaders like Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, and Old Dominion, decided to participate in the NCAA tournament instead. This led to NBC cancelling its TV contract with the AIAW, and the association ceased operations in all sports soon after.
There was no TV coverage of the national semifinals before 1985. However, several AIAW championships were televised by the TVS Television Network in 1979.
Fast forward to 2025, and the women's NCAA tournament is now being broadcast on ESPN, with the Final Four games and the NCAA championship game being shown on ABC. The official bracket, schedule, and TV channel information can be found on NCAA.com.
With the popularity of women's basketball continuing to grow, it will be interesting to see how the broadcasting landscape evolves in the future.
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![The Tournament [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/710qQxiAC7L._AC_UY218_.jpg)
![The tournament [Import anglais]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/715n8uV9AgL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
![The Tournament-Kaufversion [Import allemand]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71GYCx3PdYL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
Championship game and winners
The 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a 68-team, single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2023–24 season. The tournament began on March 20, 2024, and concluded with the championship game on April 7, 2024, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
The championship game broke records, becoming the most-watched basketball game (including the NBA) since 2019. It was also the most-watched basketball game to air outside of primetime since the Fab Five played in the men's Final Four in 1992. ESPN broadcast each game of the tournament across its channels, with the national championship game airing on ABC.
In the championship game, Iowa returned for their second straight appearance, while South Carolina entered their third championship game in seven years. Iowa had already drawn the largest audience ever for a women's college basketball game in their regional final rematch with LSU, which was also the most-watched college basketball game in ESPN's 45-year history. This record was broken a few days later when Iowa's national semifinal match with Connecticut averaged the most viewers for a basketball game at any level on ESPN.
Unfortunately, I could not find the winner of the 2024 championship game.
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Frequently asked questions
The 42nd edition of the tournament began on March 20, 2024.
68 teams participated in the 2024 tournament.
The tournament concluded with the championship game on April 7, 2024, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
ESPN broadcasted each game of the tournament across its channels, and Westwood One served as the radio broadcaster.
