NCAA Women ' s Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Women ' s Division I Championship is an annual college basketball tournament for women . Held each April , the Women ' s Championship was inaugurated in the 1981 – 82 season . The NCAA tournament was preceded by the AIAW Women ' s Basketball Tournament , which was held annually from 1972 to 1982 . Basketball was one of twelve women ' s sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981 - 82 school year , as the NCAA engaged in battle with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women for sole governance of women ' s collegiate sports . The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same twelve ( and other ) sports ; however , after a year of dual women ' s championships , the NCAA prevailed , while the AIAW disbanded . Attendance and interest in the Women ' s Division I Championship have grown over the years , especially since 2003 , when the final championship game was moved to the Tuesday following the Monday men ' s championship game . The women ' s championship game is now the final overall game of the college basketball season . Before that , the Women ' s Final Four was usually played on the Friday before the Men ' s Final Four or the hours before the men played on the final Saturday of the tournament . The final was usually played the Sunday afternoon following the Men ' s Final Four . The tournament bracket is made up of champions from each Division I conference , which receive automatic bid s . The remaining slots are at - large bid s , with teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee . The selection process and tournament seedings are based on several factors , including team rankings , win - loss records and Ratings Percentage Index ( RPI ) data . Unlike the men ' s tournament , there are only 33 at - large bids , and no play - in game . The women ' s tournament , like the men ' s , is staged in a single elimination format , and is part of the media and public frenzy known colloquially as " March Madness " or " The Big Dance " . All 63 games have been broadcast on television since 2003 on ESPN and ESPN2 . Similar to the pre - 2011 men ' s tournament coverage on CBS , local teams are shown on each channel when available , with " whip - around " coverage designed to showcase the most competitive contests in the rest of the country . Tournament format . A total of 64 teams qualify for the tournament played in March and April . 30 of the 64 teams earn automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments . Since the Ivy League does not conduct a post - season tournament , the regular - season conference champion receives an automatic bid . The remaining teams are granted " at - large " bids , which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee . Dr . Marilyn McNeil , vice president / director of athletics at Monmouth University is the current chairwoman . On March 1 , 2011 , Bowling Green State University ' s director of intercollegiate athletics , Greg Christopher , was appointed chair of the NCAA Division I Women ’ s Basketball Committee during the 2011 – 12 academic year . The tournament is split into four regional tournaments , and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16 , with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible . The top - seeded team in each region plays the # 16 team , the # 2 team plays the # 15 , etc . Number of teams , and seeding . The first NCAA women ' s basketball tournament was held in 1982 . The AIAW also held a basketball tournament in 1982 , but most of the top teams , including defending AIAW champion Louisiana Tech , decided to participate in the NCAA tournament . The championship consisted of 32 teams from 1982 – 1985 , 40 teams from 1986 – 1988 , and 48 teams from 1989 – 1993 . Since 1994 64 teams compete in each tournament . Prior to 1996 , seeding was conducted on a regional basis . The top teams ( eight in the 32 - , 40 - , and 48 - team formats , and 16 in the 64 - team format ) were ranked and seeded on a national basis . The remaining teams were then seeded based on their geographic region . Teams were moved outside of its geographic region only if it was necessary to balance the bracket , or if the proximity of an opponent outside of its region would be comparable and a more competitive game would result . In 1993 , all teams except for the top four were explicitly unseeded . The regional seeding resumed in 1994 . In 1996 , seeds were assigned on a national basis using an " S - Curve " format similar to the process used in selecting the field for the men ' s tournament . Selection process . A special selection committee appointed by the NCAA determines which 64 teams will enter the tournament , and where they will be seeded and placed in the bracket . Because of the automatic bids , only 33 teams ( the at - large bids ) rely on the selection committee to secure them a spot in the tournament . Women ' s NCAA Division I basketball champions . NCAA Championship Game Appearance By School . Winner of National Championship game marked with * Tournament trends . Top - ranked teams . Since the women ' s tournament began in 1982 , 13 teams have entered the tournament ranked # 1 in at least 1 poll and gone on to win the tournament : Champions excluded the next year . Only once has the reigning champion ( the previous year ' s winner ) not made it to the tournament the next year . # 1 seeds . Since 1982 , at least one # 1 seed has made the Final Four every year . Only twice have all # 1 seeds made it to the Final Four : The championship game has matched two # 1 seeds 10 times : Three teams have beaten three # 1 seeds during the course of a tournament ( the largest number of such teams that can be faced ) : Prior to the expansion of the tournament to 64 teams , all # 1 seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with three exceptions . Notably , the first two times this occurred were at the hands of the same school : Low seeds . Lowest seeds to reach each round since the expansion to 64 teams : First - round games . Since the expansion to 64 teams only one # 16 seed has defeated a # 1 seed ( while the men ' s tournament has none ) : Unlike in the men ' s tournament , no # 14 or # 15 seeds have made it to the Second Round of the women ' s tournament . Since the expansion to 64 teams in 1994 , each seed - pairing has played a total of 76 first - round games . Second - round games . Since the expansion to 64 teams in 1994 , the following results have occurred for each pairing : Teams entering the tournament undefeated . Twelve times , a team has entered the tournament undefeated . Seven times the team went on to win the National Championship and remain undefeated . Home state . Only one team has ever played the Final Four on its home court . Two other teams have played the Final Four in their home cities , and seven others have played the Final Four in their home states . The only team to play on its home court was Texas in 1987 , which lost its semifinal game at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center . Old Dominion enjoyed nearly as large an advantage in 1983 when the Final Four was played at the Norfolk Scope in its home city of Norfolk , Virginia , but also lost its semifinal . The Scope has never been the Lady Monarchs ' regular home court . ODU has always used on - campus arenas , first the ODU Fieldhouse and since 2002 the Ted Constant Convocation Center . The following year , USC won the national title at Pauley Pavilion , the home court of its Los Angeles arch - rival UCLA . Of the other teams to play in their home states , Stanford ( 1992 ) won the national title ; Notre Dame ( 2011 ) lost in the championship game ; and Western Kentucky ( 1986 ) , Penn State ( 2000 ) , Missouri State ( 2001 ) , LSU ( 2004 ) , and Baylor ( 2010 ) lost in the semifinals . Same - conference championship games . 4 championship games have featured two teams from the same conference : Result by school and by year . 259 teams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in one or more years , between 1982 ( the initial year that the post - season tournament was under the auspices of the NCAA ) and 2012 . The results for each year are summarized in the table below . The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament :