2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament


The 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament began on March 16, 2018, and concluded with the national championship game on Sunday, April 1. The Final Four was played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. This is the third time that the women's Final Four was played in Ohio after previously being held in Cincinnati in 1997 and Cleveland in 2007 and the first time that the women's Final Four was played in Columbus. For only the fourth time in the tournament’s 37-year history, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four.
Tennessee continued its record streak of making every NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at 37 consecutive appearances. Connecticut also continued its record streak of 11 consecutive Final Four appearances.

2018 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues

The first two rounds, also referred to as the subregionals, were played at the sites of the top 16 seeds, as was done in 2016 and 2017. The following are the sites selected to host the last four rounds of the 2018 tournament.
Subregionals
Regional Semifinals and Finals
National Semifinals and Championship
Selections for the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship were announced at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Monday, March 12 via ESPN.
The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus.
A total of 64 teams entered the 2018 tournament. 32 automatic bids teams were given to teams that won their conference tournament. The remaining 32 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.
The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 64.

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams automatically qualified for the 2018 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.
ConferenceTeamRecordAppearanceLast bid
ACCLouisville32–221st2017
America EastMaine23–98th2004
AmericanConnecticut32–030th2017
Atlantic 10George Washington19–1318th2016
Atlantic SunFlorida Gulf Coast30–45th2017
Big 12Baylor31–117th2017
Big EastDePaul26–723rd2017
Big SkyNorthern Colorado26–61stNever
Big SouthLiberty24–917th2013
Big TenOhio State27–625th2017
Big WestCal State Northridge19–154th2015
ColonialElon25–72nd2017
C-USAWestern Kentucky24–820th2017
HorizonGreen Bay29–318th2017
Ivy LeaguePrinceton24–57th2016
MAACQuinnipiac27–54th2017
Mid-AmericanCentral Michigan28–44th2013
MEACNorth Carolina A&T23–84th2016
Missouri ValleyDrake26–712th2017
Mountain WestBoise State23–95th2017
NortheastSaint Francis 24–912th2011
Ohio ValleyBelmont31–34th2017
Pac-12Oregon30–414th2017
PatriotAmerican26–62nd2015
SECSouth Carolina26–615th2017
SouthernMercer30–21stNever
SouthlandNicholls State19–131stNever
SWACGrambling State19–136th1999
SummitSouth Dakota State26–68th2016
Sun BeltLittle Rock23–95th2015
West CoastGonzaga27–510th2017
WACSeattle18–141stNever

Tournament seeds

Bracket

All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time
* – Denotes overtime period

Albany Regional – Albany, New York">Times Union Center">Albany, New York

Albany Regional Final

Albany Regional all tournament team

Kansas City Regional Final

Kansas City Regional all tournament team

Lexington Regional Final

Lexington Regional all tournament team

Spokane Regional Final

Spokane Regional all tournament team

During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region, and the champion of the second overall top seed's region plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region.

[Nationwide Arena] – Columbus, Ohio

* – Denotes overtime period

Final Four

National Championship

Final Four all-tournament team

Television

had US television rights to all games during the tournament. During the first and second rounds, ESPN aired select games nationally on ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPNews. All other games aired regionally on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPN3 and were streamed online via WatchESPN. Most of the nation got whip-a-round coverage during this time, which allowed ESPN to rotate between the games and focus the nation on the game that had the closest score.

Studio host and analysts

First & Second Rounds Friday/Sunday
Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight Friday/Sunday
Final Four
First & Second Rounds Saturday/Monday
Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight Saturday/Monday
Championship
had exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament. Teams participating in the Regional Finals, Final Four, and Championship were allowed to have their own local broadcasts, but they weren’t allowed to stream those broadcasts online.
Regional Finals Sunday
Final Four
Regional Finals Monday
Championship