In pursuit of the school’s second national championship, the South Carolina Gamecocks were named the top seed of the 68-team field for the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship that will be played from March 16 to April 3.
The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee awarded No. 1 seeds to South Carolina (29-2), Stanford (28-3), NC State (29-3) and Louisville (25-4).
The 2022 championship will be the first to have 68 teams. First Four games will be played Wednesday, March 16, and Thursday, March 17, at four of the top 16 host sites. First- and second-round games will be played Friday, March 18, through Monday, March 21, at the top 16 seeds.
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Regional games will be played March 25-28, with Greensboro, North Carolina (Greensboro Coliseum) and Spokane, Washington (Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena) hosting regional semifinal and final games on March 25 and 27, while Bridgeport, Connecticut (Webster Bank Arena) and Wichita, Kansas (Intrust Bank Arena) will host March 26 and 28.
The 2022 Women’s Final Four will be played April 1 and 3 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
No. 1 seed in the Greensboro Region, South Carolina is currently the No. 1 team in the latest Associated Press women’s college basketball top 25 poll. The Gamecocks’ only two losses this season came on Dec. 30, at Missouri, 70-69, and in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game against Kentucky, 64-62 on March 6.
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The defending national champion, Stanford, recently claimed the Pac-12 Conference tournament championship and comes into the NCAA championship as the No. 1 seed in the Spokane Region having won 20 straight games that began after Stanford dropped a 65-61 decision at South Carolina on Dec. 21.
Winner of 10 straight games, NC State won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship and will be playing for its first NCAA national title in 2022 as the No. 1 seed in the Bridgeport Region. NC State also lost to South Carolina, 66-57, earlier in the season.
Louisville, the No. 1 seed in the Wichita Region, is also seeking its first NCAA championship. The Cardinals come in having won 10 of their last 12 games.
TIPS: Things you should know before making your picks
Tennessee continues its appearance streak and is the only school to participate in all 40 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships since its inception in 1982. On the other end of the spectrum, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Longwood, and University of the Incarnate Word all are making their first NCAA tournament appearances.
Thirty-two conferences were granted automatic bids for the championship, and the remaining 36 teams were selected at-large.
In the 39-year history of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, 15 schools have captured the national title. UConn leads the way with 11 national championships, followed by Tennessee with eight.
