| Current season or competition: 2009 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament |
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| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| No. of teams | 64 |
| Country(ies) | NCAA Division I ( United States) |
| Most recent champion(s) | Connecticut |
| TV partner(s) | ESPN (Championship game) |
| Official website | NCAA.com |
The NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981-82 season. The NCAA tournament was preceded by the AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament, which was held annually from 1972 to 1982.
Attendance and interest have grown over the years, especially since 2003, when the final championship game was moved to the Tuesday following the Monday men's championship game. The women's championship game is now the final overall game of the college basketball season.
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.
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
A total of 64 teams qualify for the tournament played in March and April. 30 of the 64 teams earn automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments. Since the Ivy League does not conduct a post-season tournament, the regular-season conference champion receives an automatic bid. The remaining teams are granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.
The tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible[citation needed]. The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, etc.
Number of teams, and seeding
The first NCAA women's basketball tournament was held in 1982. The AIAW also held a basketball tournament in 1982, but most of the top teams, including defending AIAW champion Louisiana Tech, decided to participate in the NCAA tournament. Ultimately, this resulted in the dissolution of the AIAW.
The championship consisted of 32 teams from 1982-1985, 40 teams from 1986-1988, and 48 teams from 1989-1993. Since 1994 64 teams compete in each tournament.
Prior to 1996, seeding was conducted on a regional basis. The top teams (eight in the 32-, 40-, and 48-team formats, and 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. Teams were moved outside of its geographic region only if it was necessary to balance the bracket, or if the proximity of an opponent outside of its region would be comparable and a more competitive game would result. In 1993, the all teams except for the top four were explicitly unseeded. The regional seeding resumed in 1994. In 1996, seeds were assigned on a national basis using an "S-Curve" format[clarification needed] 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 NCAA Division I basketball champions
NCAA championships by school
| Wins | School | Championships |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Tennessee | 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008 |
| 6 | Connecticut | 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 |
| 2 | Louisiana Tech | 1982, 1988 |
| Southern California | 1983, 1984 | |
| Stanford | 1990, 1992 | |
| 1 | Old Dominion | 1985 |
| Texas | 1986 | |
| Texas Tech | 1993 | |
| North Carolina | 1994 | |
| Purdue | 1999 | |
| Notre Dame | 2001 | |
| Baylor | 2005 | |
| Maryland | 2006 |
NCAA Final Fours by school
| School | Number |
|---|---|
| Tennessee | 18 |
| Louisiana Tech, Connecticut | 10 |
| Stanford | 8 |
| LSU, Georgia | 5 |
| Duke | 4 |
| North Carolina, Maryland, Purdue, Old Dominion, Virginia, USC, Texas, Auburn, Western Kentucky | 3 |
| Rutgers, Notre Dame, Cheyney St., Missouri St., Long Beach St., Oklahoma | 2 |
| Texas Tech, Baylor, Louisville, Ohio St., Vanderbilt, Iowa, Minnesota, Alabama, NC State, Arkansas,
Michigan St., Penn St., Northeast Louisiana |
1 |
Multiple NCAA championship coaches
| Coach | School | Championships |
|---|---|---|
| Pat Summitt | Tennessee | 8 |
| Geno Auriemma | Connecticut | 6 |
| Tara VanDerveer | Stanford | 2 |
See also
- NCAA Women's Division II Basketball Championship
- NCAA Women's Division III Basketball Championship
- AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament
- Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, Basketball Champions
- NCAA Women's Division I Tournament bids by school
- NAIA national women's basketball championship
- List of NCAA Women's Final Four broadcasters
References
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