Women's basketball has not slowed down at all this season as March Madness arrives.
A year ago, the women’s NCAA championship game drew a bigger television audience than the men’s title game for the first time, with an average of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark. The question was whether some fans would step away as Clark, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and other standouts headed to the WNBA.
Instead, the women's game has featured a compelling bunch of stars all over again, from Paige Bueckers at UConn to JuJu Watkins at USC, Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame and Madison Booker of Texas.
The season has been must-watch viewing for another reason, too: Parity. So far, four teams have held the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25, tying the mark for the most ever. That makes the tournament winner anyone's guess after some terrific league title games shoved some teams onto the bubble.
How can I watch the tournament?
Every game of the women’s tournament will be aired on ESPN's networks and streaming services with select games on ABC.
The games are also available to watch on Sky Sports in the UK, with most of the action – including the ‘Sweet 16’, ‘Elite 8’, ‘Final 4’ and Championship Finals for both the men’s and women’s tournaments – on either Sky Sports Mix or Main Event channels.
Sky Sports are showing over 93 live games, all of which are available to subscribers via the Sky Sports website and Sky Go apps.
Who are the favorites?
The top four betting favorites as the tournament approaches are (in order): defending champion South Carolina, UConn and crosstown rivals USC and UCLA, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Who is playing?
There are 32 automatic bids that go to conference champions and they are combined with 36 at-large picks by the NCAA selection committee. We all find out on Selection Sunday, March 16, when bracket matchups are unveiled.
When are the games?
The First Four matchups (March 19-20) and first- and second-round games (March 21-24) are on campus, with sites announced March 16.
Sweet 16 weekend (March 28-31) will see games in two sites once again: Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington.
The Final Four is in Tampa, Florida, on Friday, April 4, with the championship game on Sunday, April 6.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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