2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

A total of 68 teams participated in the 2024 tournament, consisting of the 32 conference champions, and 36 "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.^[1]

The first two rounds, also referred to as the subregionals, will be played at the sites of the top 16 seeds.

First Four

• March 20–21
• Four of the campuses seeded in the Top 16

Subregionals (First and Second Rounds)

• March 22 and 24 (Fri/Sun)
  • Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina (Host: University of South Carolina)
  • Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University)
  • Moody Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin)
  • Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California (Host: Stanford University)
  • Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kansas (Host: Kansas State University)
  • Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana State University)
  • Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Virginia (Host: Virginia Tech)
  • Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio (Host: Ohio State University)
• March 23 and 25 (Sat/Mon)
  • Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana (Host: Indiana University)
  • Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame)
  • McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Washington (Host: Gonzaga University)
  • Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
  • Carver–Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa (Host: University of Iowa)
  • Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: University of California, Los Angeles)
  • Galen Center, Los Angeles, California (Host: University of Southern California)
  • Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 29 – April 1
  • Albany Regional, MVP Arena, Albany, New York (Hosts: The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Siena College)
  • Portland Regional, Moda Center, Portland, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University)

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

• April 5 and April 7
  • Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio (Hosts: Cleveland State University and the Mid-American Conference)

Cleveland is hosting the women's Final Four for the second time; the first was in 2007.^[2]

The following teams automatically qualified for the 2024 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.^[a]

The sixty-eight teams came from thirty-four states.

Richmond

Notre Dame

Presbyterian

Iowa

UT Martin

USC

South Carolina

Chattanooga

Marshall

UConn

Green Bay

Portland

South Dakota State

Texas

Eastern Washington

Rice

UNLV

Texas A&M–Corpus Christi

Sacred Heart

Maine

Kent State

California Baptist

Fairfield

Norfolk State

Princeton

Jackson State

Middle Tennessee

UC Irvine

Florida Gulf Coast

Stanford

LSU

UCLA

Ohio State

Oregon State

NC State

Virginia Tech

Gonzaga

Oklahoma

Indiana

Utah

Kansas State

Colorado

Syracuse

West Virginia

Duke

Baylor

Louisville

North Carolina

Tennessee

Ole Miss

Creighton

Nebraska

Kansas

Florida State

Alabama

Michigan State

Iowa State

Texas A&M

Marquette

Holy Cross

Drake

Drexel

Maryland

Michigan

Vanderbilt

Columbia

Auburn

Arizona

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Participating teams in the 2024 tournament.

Thirty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In nineteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-six additional at-large teams were selected from twelve of the conferences.

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.

*See First Four
Source:

All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

The First Four games involve eight teams: the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams.

• Kamilla Cardoso (MOP) – South Carolina
• Raven Johnson – South Carolina
• Raegan Beers – Oregon State
• Timea Gardiner – Oregon State
• Sydney Parrish – Indiana

• Aziaha James (MOP) – NC State
• Saniya Rivers – NC State
• Aaliyah Moore – Texas
• Shay Holle – Texas
• Kiki Iriafen – Stanford

• Caitlin Clark (MOP) – Iowa
• Lauren Betts – UCLA
• Angel Reese – LSU
• Flau'jae Johnson – LSU
• Sydney Affolter – Iowa

• Paige Bueckers (MOP) – UConn
• Rayah Marshall – USC
• McKenzie Forbes – USC
• JuJu Watkins – USC
• Aaliyah Edwards – UConn

• Kamilla Cardoso (MOP) – South Carolina
• Tessa Johnson – South Carolina
• Caitlin Clark – Iowa
• Hannah Stuelke – Iowa
• Paige Bueckers – UConn

• The FF, R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the first four, round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.

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."^[3]

(#) Tournament seedings and region in parentheses.

The Albany 2 regional final between Iowa and LSU, a rematch of the previous year's national championship game drew the largest audience ever for a women's college basketball game as well as the most watched college basketball game in the 45-year history of ESPN.^[4] The record would last only a few days, as Iowa's national semifinal match with Connecticut averaged the most viewers for a basketball game at any level on ESPN.^{[5][failed verification]} The Championship game again broke this record, with it becoming the most watched basketball game (including the NBA) since 2019 and the most watched basketball game to air outside of prime-time since the Fab Five played in the men's Final Four in 1992.^[6]

ESPN broadcast each game of the tournament across either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, or ABC. For the second consecutive season, the national championship game aired on ABC.^[10][11]

ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show broadcast live from Iowa City for the Iowa Hawkeyes' first-round game.^[12] ESPN provided Megacast coverage during the Final Four and national championship games, with the Bird & Taurasi Show alternate broadcast with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi returning on ESPN2 and ESPN during the Final Four and national championship respectively, and the "Beyond the Rim" (additional statistics) and rail cam feeds available on ESPN+.^[13]

• Elle Duncan (host) (first four, first/second rounds, regionals, Final Four, and national championship)
• Kelsey Riggs (host) (first/second rounds)
• Rebecca Lobo (analyst) (first four, and 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)
• Carolyn Peck (analyst) (Final Four and national championship)
• Nikki Fargas (analyst) (first/second rounds)
• Aliyah Boston (analyst) (Final Four and national championship)
• Lisa Mattingly (rules analyst) (first four, first/second rounds, regionals, Final Four, and national championship)
• Denny Meyer (rules analyst) (Final Four and national championship)

Westwood One will serve as radio broadcaster of the tournament.

Regionals (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)

• Sam Neidermann and Isis Young – Albany, New York 1
• Troy Clardy and Debbie Antonelli – Portland, Oregon 4
• Lance Medow and Kim Adams – Albany, New York 2
• Matt Chazanow and Krista Blunk – Portland, Oregon 3

Final Four and National Championship

• Ryan Radtke, Debbie Antonelli, and Ros Gold-Onwude – Cleveland, Ohio

• 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2024 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2024 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 2024 NAIA women's basketball tournament

• NCAA Women's Basketball Division I