Current:Home > ContactFirst Four launches March Madness 2024. Here's everything to know about women's teams. -ChatGPT
First Four launches March Madness 2024. Here's everything to know about women's teams.
View
Date:2025-04-16 12:20:39
For the women, March Madness ramps up one day after the men with their own First Four matchups.
The expanded field is fairly new to the women's game, which started the First Four round in 2022. It was one of a handful of changes that the NCAA began making in the wake of a gender equity report showing vast disparities between the men's and women's basketball tournaments.
Unlike the men, who stage all four games in one place, the women play each game at a different location, picking four sites out of the top 16 national seeds.
Here is what you need to know about the women's teams in this year's First Four.
First Four teams for women's March Madness
- Arizona (17-15): Went into the Pac-12 tournament as the No. 7 seed and was eliminated by top-seeded USC in the conference quarterfinals.
- Auburn (20-11): Finished in a sixth-place tie with Mississippi State in the SEC and was routed by LSU in the conference quarterfinals.
- Columbia (23-6): Finished tied with Princeton for the top seed in the Ivy League before going on to beat the Tigers 75-58 in the conference championship game.
- Holy Cross (20-12): Was the top seed in the Patriot League and went on to win the conference championship against Boston University 61-55.
- Presbyterian (20-14): Finished in a tie for fourth place in the Big South, but went on to beat Radford in the conference title game.
- Sacred Heart (24-9): Only lost one game in the NEC and ran away with the conference championship. The Pioneers have won 15 consecutive games.
- UT Martin (16-16): Was one of three teams to finish in second place in the OVC and made it to the conference championship game before losing to top-seeded Southern Indiana.
- Vanderbilt (22-9): Finished the regular season as the No. 6 seed in the SEC tournament, where they were ousted by Florida in the first round.
IT'S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY's NCAA tournament bracket contest for a chance at $1 million prize.
When is First Four for women?
The women's First Four will take place with two games on Wednesday, March 20 and two games on Thursday, March 21.
First Four games for women
Wednesday, March 20
- Sacred Heart (24-9) vs. Presbyterian (20-14), 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The winner will be the No. 16 seed in Albany Regional 1 and face No. 1 South Carolina.
- Vanderbilt (22-9) vs. Columbia (23-6), 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The winner will be the No. 12 seed in Portland Regional 3 and face No. 5 Baylor.
Thursday, March 21
- Auburn (20-11) vs. Arizona (17-15), 7 p.m. on ESPN2. The winner will be the No. 11 seed in Portland Regional 3 and face No. 6 Syracuse.
- Holy Cross (20-12) vs. UT Martin (16-16), 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The winner will be the No. 16 seed in Albany Regional 2 and face No. 1 Iowa.
Where is First Four for women?
The sites of the women's First Four games will be: Blacksburg, Virginia; Columbia, South Carolina; Storrs, Connecticut; and Peoria, Illinois.
How to watch women's First Four
The women's First Four games will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN2.
Have any First Four teams won the women's national championship?
No, in fact Mississippi State is the only team to ever win a first-round game after advancing out of the First Four. Last season the Bulldogs beat Creighton in the Round of 64 before losing to Notre Dame 53-48 in the second round.
USA TODAY Sports' Steve Gardner contributed to this report.
veryGood! (29626)
Related
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Pregnant 18-year-old who never showed for doctor's appointment now considered missing
- As the Endangered Species Act turns 50, those who first enforced it reflect on its mixed legacy
- Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif will seek a fourth term in office, his party says
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- Tamar Braxton and Jeremy JR Robinson Engaged Again 2 Months After Break Up: See Her Ring
- Bowl game schedule today: Everything to know about college football bowl games on Dec. 26
- Floods in a central province in Congo kill at least 17 people, a local official says
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Alabama agency completes review of fatal police shooting in man’s front yard
Ranking
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- Almcoin Trading Center: The Opportunities and Risks of Inscription
- A lawsuit challenging Alabama’s transgender care ban for minors will move forward, judge says
- She died weeks after fleeing the Maui wildfire. Her family fought to have her listed as a victim.
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Mariah Carey and Bryan Tanaka Break Up After 7 Years of Dating
- Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde's Kids Steal the Show While Crashing His ESPN Interview
- Almcoin Trading Center: The Development Prospects of the North American Cryptocurrency Market
Recommendation
How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
Almcoin Trading Center: Token Crowdfunding Model
The year when the girl economy roared
Mexico’s army-run airline takes to the skies, with first flight to the resort of Tulum
Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
American scientists explore Antarctica for oldest-ever ice to help understand climate change
Biden orders strikes on an Iranian-aligned group after 3 US troops wounded in drone attack in Iraq
Manchester United says British billionaire buys minority stake