The NCAA DI women’s basketball tournament has expanded a few times since the inaugural edition in 1982. Here’s a rundown of all the years where the tournament size changed.
1982 — 32 teams
The first year of the NCAA women’s tournament included 32 teams — 13 of those were champions of automatic qualifying conferences — with Louisiana Tech beating Cheyney State in the national championship game in Norfolk, Virginia.
1983
Fourteen conferences earned automatic qualification. The championship bracket remained at 32 teams, but for one year only, an additional eight conferences played opening round games to determine four additional conference representatives to compete in the first round.
1986 — 40 teams
The bracket expanded to 40 teams. Eighteen conferences also now received automatic bids. Texas defeated USC in the title game to become the first undefeated NCAA tournament champion.
1989 — 48 teams
The tournament increased to 48 teams, with 19 conferences holding automatic spots. Tennessee beat Auburn in the title game in Tacoma, Washington.
1994 — 64 teams
The tournament bracket moved to 64 teams as all 32 eligible conferences were awarded automatic berths. North Carolina beat Louisiana Tech for the national championship on a Charlotte Smith 3-pointer as time expired.
2022 — 68 teams
The bracket expanded for the first time in almost 30 years, increasing to 68 teams. Thirty-two conferences had automatic qualifiers. This marked the first use of the First Four round, with the last four at-large teams and teams seeded 65 through 68 by the selection committee playing in the opening round. These games were played at campus sites.
2027 — 76 teams
The tournament field will increase in 2027, adding eight more teams. The change will be centered on the opening round, with 12 total games involving 24 teams before the first round and the 64-team bracket. The 12 opening round games will be played at 12 campus sites on Wednesday, March 17 and Thursday, March 18. The 24 teams will be the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the 12 lowest-seeded at-large selections. The games will not have crossovers, meaning it will be at-large vs. at-large and automatic qualifier vs. automatic qualifier.
