Everything to Know About Women’s March Madness 2023

South Carolina, Iowa, and Washington State are just some of the teams that have solidified their place at this year’s Women’s NCAA Tournament!

It’s game time! The Women’s 2023 March Madness Tournament selections commence on Sunday, March 12. On selection day, 68 teams will be picked to compete in this year’s tournament, 32 of which will already have secured automatic bids to the NCAA tournament through conference championship wins. The remaining teams will be chosen to attend the Big Dance based on season statistics.

The first tip-off will occur on Wednesday, March 15, and the final National Championship Game will be held on Sunday, April 2, in Dallas, Texas, at the American Airlines Center. The women’s NCAA tournament made a significant change this year by decreasing the number of regional sites hosting the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matches from four to two: Seattle, WA, and Greenville, South Carolina.

This year marks the 41st year in NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships, and thus far, only 15 teams have achieved national titles. UConn reigns supreme with 11 national championships, followed by Tennessee with eight. The past National Championship title winners of this decade so far are the Stanford Cardinals in 2021, followed by the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2022.

March Madness season is a fun experience for fans as you have the opportunity to play along with the teams through bracket creations. As a fan, you can be a winner too! Enter to play by filling out 25 complete brackets in the 2023 Women’s Tournament Challenge. Once complete, you’ll be qualified for a chance to win $1,000, and to take it further, if you accurately predict the National Champion, you could be one of 10 selected to win the grand prize of $5,000.

Teams To Watch

After dominating the SEC Conference all season, the South Carolina Gamecocks are expected to be the overall top seed in March Madness and vie for a repeat as defending national champions. The No. 1 Gamecocks record speaks for itself, 32-0 season wins and no intentions to break their undefeated streak. With SEC Player of Year and Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston on their line-up, it will be difficult for opponents to snatch a win against this powerhouse team.

The Iowa Hawkeyes recently claimed a Big Ten Conference Title for the second time in a row with a huge defeat over Ohio State, finishing with a 26-6 season record. Junior guard Caitlin Clark made history with the first triple-double in Big 10 tournament history and racked up a 10th triple-double to her career total–the third most in NCAA men’s and women’s player history. Iowa has demonstrated all season long that they are gunning to go far in the NCAA tournament and are also in the running to take the top No.1 seed in the tournament.

Washington State scored their first conference tournament championship in the Pac-12, a shocking upset from a No. 7 seed. They are underdogs going into March Madness tournament play, and we’re excited to see how far they’ll go. In the Pac-12 tournament, they defeated top 25 teams like UCLA, Utah, and Colorado and played four games without having a bye into the tournament – a difficult undertaking and still came out on top. This will be the Cougar’s third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, and clearly, they are not a team we should overlook.

Check NCAA  to stay up to date with team rankings up until selection day!