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The best time of the year for college basketball fans is officially here — and so are the brackets. Buckle up for March Madness and get your sharpie ready on Selection Sunday. The women’s NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed Sunday night.
Reigning national champion UConn is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and is entering the postseason undefeated (34-0) for the 11th time in program history. Geno Auriemma’s program has won 12 NCAA Tournament championships, more than any men’s or women’s basketball team in college basketball history. Six of those titles came in undefeated seasons. The Huskies have made it to 16 of the last 17 Final Fours, and they are favored to cut down the nets in Phoenix this season (FanDuel lists them with -290 odds to win the NCAA Tournament).
UCLA, Texas and South Carolina are also No. 1 seeds. Arizona State, Virginia, Richmond and Nebraska were the last four teams to earn at-large bids, and they will all play in the First Four on Wednesday and Thursday.
Brackets are here! Get your pools ready and enter our Bracket Challenge for your chance to win a dream trip to the 2027 Final FourⓇ.
UCLA made its first Final Four last year, and the Bruins will be entering this Big Dance even stronger this year. They’ve won 25 straight games entering the NCAA Tournament, with the latest victory coming in the form of a 51-point blowout over Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament title game last week.
The women’s NCAA Tournament gets started with the First Four on Wednesday, March 18. The first round will be held on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21 with the second round scheduled for Sunday, March 22 and Monday, March 23. The first two rounds will be hosted by the top 16 teams in the field. The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight are set for March 27-30 in Sacramento and Fort Worth, and the Final Four is scheduled from April 3-5 in Phoenix.
2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament bracket
Click here to enlarge and print the blank 2026 March Madness bracket.
No. 1 seeds tend to do well, but some upsets should be expected. There have only been four instances in which all the No. 1 seed have reached the Final Four: 1989, 2012, 2015 and 2018. All four of the current No. 1 seeds made the Final Four last year, so it will be interesting to see if they can meet again in Phoenix.
No. 1 seeds have won the championship 23 times in the women’s NCAA Tournament, while No. 2 and No. 3 seeds have a combined eight titles. No lower seeds have ever lifted the trophy, and, in fact, seeds lower than No. 6 have a losing record in the overall tournament.
That being said, this is March, and you can’t count anybody out. In 1998, No. 16 seed Harvard upset No. 1 seed Stanford with a 71-67 victory in the first round.
