2026 March Madness: Women’s NCAA tournament schedule, dates, times

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The 68-team bracket for the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament was announced on Sunday, March 15 with March Madness women’s officially kicking off with the First Four on March 18-19.

You can find the 2026 women’s tournament bracket and schedule below. You can also see the interactive version here and the printable tournament bracket here.

2026 NCAA women’s tournament schedule, scores, highlights

All times ET

Monday, March 23 (Second Round)

Friday, March 27 (Sweet 16)

Saturday, March 28 (Sweet 16)

Wednesday, March 18 (First Four)

Thursday, March 19 (First Four)

Friday, March 20 (First Round/Round of 64)

Saturday, March 21 (First Round/Round of 64)

Sunday, March 22 (Second Round)

2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament schedule, dates

Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 15 on ESPN
First Four: March 18-19
First round: March 20-21
Second round: March 22-23
Sweet 16: March 27-28
Elite Eight: March 29-30
Final Four: Friday, April 3 at 7 p.m. with the second semifinal starting 30 minutes after the first game ends. Both will be at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix
NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC, hosted at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix

2026 NCAA women’s tournament bracket

Click or tap here for the interactive bracket

2026 March Madness women’s regional locations

2026 Regional ROUND SITES
Round	City	Venue	Dates
Sweet 16/Elite Eight	Fort Worth, Texas	Dickies Arena	March 27-30
Sweet 16/Elite Eight	Sacramento, Calif.	Golden 1 Center	March 27-30

Here’s how last year’s tournament ended:

2025 NCAA women’s tournament schedule, scores, highlights

All times ET

Wednesday, March 19 (First Four)

Thursday, March 20 (First Four)

Friday, March 21 (First Round/Round of 64)

Saturday, March 22 (First Round/Round of 64)

Sunday, March 23 (Second Round/Round of 32)

Monday, March 24 (Second Round/Round of 32)

Friday, March 28 (Sweet 16)

Saturday, March 29 (Sweet 16)

Sunday, March 30 (Elite Eight)

Monday, March 31 (Elite Eight)

Friday, April 4 (Final Four in Tampa, Fla.)

Sunday, April 6 (National championship game in Tampa, Fla.)

(2) UConn 82, (1) South Carolina 59

Here are the future sites and dates for the Final Four:

Year	city	venue	dates	host
2026	Phoenix	Footprint Center	April 3 & 5	Arizona State University
2027	Columbus, Ohio	Nationwide Arena	April 2 & 4	The Ohio State University, Greater Columbus Sports Commission
2028	Indianapolis	Lucas Oil Stadium	March 31 & April 2	Horizon League, IUPUI, Indiana Sports Corp
2029	San Antonio	Alamodome	March 30 & April 1	University of Incarnate Word, UTSA, San Antonio Sports
2030	Portland, Ore.	Moda Center	April 5 & 7	University of Portland, Sport Oregon
2031	Dallas	American Airlines Center	April 4 & 6	Big 12 Conference, Dallas Sports Commission

Here is the complete list of teams who have won the DI national championship:

NCAA DI women’s basketball: Champions, history

YEAR	CHAMPION (RECORD)	COACH	SCORE	RUNNER-UP	SITE
2025	UConn (37-3)	Geno Auriemma	82-59	South Carolina	Tampa, Fla.
2024	South Carolina (38-0)	Dawn Staley	87-75	Iowa	Cleveland, Ohio
2023	LSU (34-2)	Kim Mulkey	102-85	Iowa	Dallas, Texas
2022	South Carolina (36-2)	Dawn Staley	64-49	Connecticut	Minneapolis, Minn.
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.