Playing for Phoenix: ESPN is once again the exclusive home of NCAA March Madness Women's Basketball

· All 67 games of the tournament available across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and the ESPN App, March 18-April 5

· No. 1 Seeds: No. 1 UConn, No. 1 UCLA, No. 1 Texas, No. 1 South Carolina

· Game On: Journey to the NCAA Championship, the one-hour women's basketball special, set to air Wednesday, March 18 at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2

For a 31st straight year, ESPN returns as the exclusive home of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament Presented by Capital One. ESPN networks have every angle of all 67 games covered, beginning Wednesday, March 18 with the First Four. March Madness women's basketball on ESPN networks will have matchups available across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS. All games stream live in the ESPN App with an applicable subscription.

The tournament culminates with the NCAA Women's Final Four (April 3 & 5) live from Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz. For the fourth straight year, the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship is slated for ABC, with coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 5 with a special one-hour pregame show. Last season, the 2025 national championship game delivered 8.5 million viewers, the third-best performance in history.

The opening weekend will feature numerous top matchups, including the overall No. 1 seed UConn against the UTSA on Saturday at 3 p.m. (ABC). Other games featuring top seeds include: No. 1 Texas hosts the winner of Missouri State/SFA (Fri, 4 p.m., ESPN), No. 1 South Carolina faces the winner of Southern U/Samford (Sat, 1 p.m. ABC) and No. 1 UCLA takes Cal Baptist (Sat, 10 p.m., ESPN).

Durham (Duke), Austin (Texas), Columbia (South Carolina) and Iowa City (Iowa) will serve as the First Four host sites, with games beginning Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Championship Caliber Studio Teams Ready for Action

ESPN will deploy two top-tier studio teams for NCAA Championship in The Studio Presented by AT&T from the First Four through the Elite 8.

The first team is led by the host of SportsCenter and the women's edition of College GameDay Covered by State Farm, Christine Williamson, along with her fellow GameDay analysts, Andraya Carter and Chiney Ogwumike.

Kelsey Riggs Cuff will lead the other studio team joined by analysts Muffet McGraw and Meghan McKeown to round out the early rounds.

For the first time ever, ESPN will send studio teams on-site at the Sweet 16/Elite 8 in Sacramento and Fort Worth for NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T. The crews of Williamson/Carter/Ogwumike and Riggs Cuff/McGraw/McKeown are set to bring fans the action from each site.

Williamson, Carter and Ogwumike will then head to Phoenix for the Women's Final Four with all the insight and analysis for the semifinals and championship. Riggs Cuff, McGraw and Carolyn Peck will handle the open practice from Phoenix on Saturday, April 4, as well as SportsCenter hits throughout the weekend.

For the third consecutive year, postseason coverage will feature a rules analyst, who joins the studio crews from the first tip through the final buzzer. Throughout the tournament, Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer will be available for all 67 games.

Commentator pairings and locations for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship will be announced Monday.

SEC Network

SEC Now returns for postseason coverage of the 10 men's and 10 women's teams representing the Southeastern Conference in both NCAA Tournaments. On the women's side, Nell Fortner, Mike Neighbors and Steffi Sorensen will be live from Charlotte studios for SEC Now coverage during the first two weekends of game action. Should an SEC squad advance to the Women's Final Four, Alyssa Lang would be joined by Fortner and Neighbors to bring fans all the action from Phoenix. Throughout the men's tournament, Patric Young and Pat Bradley join hosts Peter Burns and Dari Nowkhah in studio for the first two weeks of play. If any SEC men's teams make it to Indianapolis, Daymeon Fishback and Ron Slay join Nowkhah for on-site coverage.

ACC Network

ACC Network's signature basketball show Nothing But Net will have postseason coverage of the ACC's eight men's and nine women's teams participating in the NCAA Tournaments, airing nightly on the days ACC programs play their games. A rotating cast of ACCN men's and women's college basketball analysts, including Kelly Gramlich, Liz Kitley, Kai Crutchfield, Layshia Clarendon, Joel Berry II, Luke Hancock and Justin Jackson will offer insight and analysis alongside hosts Taylor Tannebaum and Jason Spells.

ESPN.com

ESPN.com broke down the bracket with everything fans need to know about all 68 teams. Content ahead of the first round will include:

· Ranking the top 25 players in the NCAA Championship Tournament

· Final Four picks and the 10 first and second round games that could end in upsets

· How the teams in UConn's path in the bracket could challenge or end the Huskies' perfect season

· How underclass guards could steal the show in the NCAA Tournament

· On-site coverage, live reaction and takeaways from each day of games

· Charlie Creme will re-seed the field at the conclusion of each round

· Updated top 15 player rankings ahead of the Women's Final Four

· Updated WNBA mock draft looking at which players have upped their stock in the NCAA Tournament

· Continued coverage of UConn's attempt to repeat and potential seventh perfect season

Megastars on a Megastage

ESPN's 2026 marketing campaign positions the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship as a blockbuster premiere event that it is. A showcase of the sport's biggest stars and legends in the making, arriving at the ultimate stage where everything is on the line.

Set to the iconic Fugees track, "Ready or Not", the campaign features the unmistakable voice of 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee Lauryn Hill and introduces a mega-theater-arena that brings together star athletes and cinematic footage in an immersive spectacle.

The environment was crafted through cinematic CGI and visual effects, seamlessly blending live action moments with designed environments to create a singular March Madness stage cementing the tournament as a definitive, must-watch event built for the biggest spotlight of the season.

ESPN Tournament Challenge Games Now Open

ESPN recently released a new marketing campaign for its Women's and Men's ESPN Tournament Challenge games, which are now open for fans to create entries and join or start groups. The creative builds on last year's successful "Bracketbrain" platform with a full-fledged spoof pharmaceutical spot. Watch here.

The Women's Tournament Challenge is Presented by Capital One, Allstate and Miller Lite. Last year, ESPN Tournament Challenge set a record with 24.4 million total brackets. This set the record for the third consecutive year, up 10% compared to 2024's then-record of 22.6 million total brackets prior to the first tip.

Women's Final Four MegaCast Options

ESPN's one-of-a-kind production of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship will deploy multiple networks as part of its signature MegaCast presentation across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+ and the ESPN App.

This season, ESPN is debuting a new alt-cast during the Women's Final Four, with more details to be announced in the coming weeks.

Additional MegaCast feeds includes:

· Beyond the Rim (ESPN+/ESPN App): Provides an aerial camera view with the main telecast commentary and replays, supported by an enhanced statistical feed

· On the Rail (ESPN+/ESPN App): Tracks game action along one full length of the floor from end to end. The stream will feature natural sound and replays

Enhanced Coverage

· The 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship will feature more games on ABC and ESPN than ever before.

· For the second straight year, the semifinals and championship game will be available in 4K.

· Fans will see an enhanced studio presence, with 19 studio shows throughout the course of the championship.

· Saturday's open practices of the two championship-bound teams will air on ESPN2, starting at 4 p.m., following the airing of the Women's College All-Star game (1 p.m.).

o Riggs Cuff, McGraw and Carolyn Peck are set to bring fans all the action from Mortgage Matchup Center during the two live practices leading up to Sunday's championship matchup.

· This postseason, AT&T is sponsoring a digital live show for the third straight season. "The Wrap-Up Presented by AT&T" will offer in-depth analysis from the games of the day. The show can be streamed live across the ESPN App, ESPN YouTube and ESPN Facebook.

· Game On: Journey to the NCAA Championship - the one-hour women's basketball special - will debut on Wednesday, March 18 at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. The special will also be available streaming on ESPN+ beginning March 20.

NCAA Division I Women's Championship Schedule Presented by Capital One

Games available across ESPN networks and via the ESPN App

Date Time (ET) Match-Up Where to Watch
First Four Presented by Intuit TurboTax
Wed, Mar 18 7 p.m. No. 11 Richmond vs. No. 11 Nebraska ESPN2
9 p.m. No. 16 SFA vs. No. 16 Missouri State ESPN2
Thu, Mar 19 7 p.m. No. 16 Samford vs. No. 16 Southern U. ESPN2
9 p.m. No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 11 Virginia ESPN2
First Round Presented by Intuit TurboTax
Fri, Mar 20 11 a.m. NCAA Women's Championship In The Studio Presented by AT&T ESPN2
11:30 a.m. No. 14 College of Charleston at No. 3 Duke ESPN2
Noon No. 14 UC San Diego at No. 3 TCU ESPN
1:30 p.m. No. 9 Virginia Tech vs. No. 8 Oregon ESPN2
2 p.m. No. 11 Nebraska/Richmond vs. No. 6 Baylor ESPN
2:30 p.m. No. 11 South Dakota State vs. Washington ESPNEWS
3 p.m. No. 12 Murray State vs. No. 5 Maryland ESPNU
3:30 p.m. No. 12 Gonzaga vs. No. 5 Ole Miss ESPN2
4 p.m. No. 16 Missouri State/SFA at No. 1 Texas ESPN
5:30 p.m. No. 15 Holy Cross at No. 2 Michigan ESPN2
5:30 p.m. No. 13 Western Illinois at No. 4 North Carolina ESPNEWS
6 p.m. No. 15 Jacksonville at No. 2 LSU ESPN
6 p.m. No. 13 Green Bay at No. 4 Minnesota ESPNU
7:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship In The Studio Presented by AT&T ESPN2
7:30 p.m. No. 12 Colorado State vs. No. 5 Michigan State ESPNEWS
8 p.m. No. 10 Tennessee vs. No. 7 NC State ESPN
8:30 p.m. No. 10 Villanova vs. No. 7 Texas Tech ESPNU
10 p.m. No. 13 Idaho at No. 4 Oklahoma ESPN
Sat, Mar 21 11:30 a.m. No. 14 Howard at No. 3 Ohio State ESPN2
Noon No. 14 Vermont at No. 3 Louisville ESPN
1 p.m. No. 16 Southern U./Samford at No. 1 South Carolina ABC
1:30 p.m. No. 10 Virginia/Arizona State vs. No. 7 Georgia ESPN2
2 p.m. No. 11 Fairfield vs. No. 6 Nore Dame ESPN
2:30 p.m. No. 12 James Madison vs. No. 5 Kentucky ESPNU
2:30 p.m. No. 11 Rhode Island vs. No. 6 Alabama ESPNEWS
3 p.m. No. 16 UTSA at No. 1 UConn ABC
3:30 p.m. No. 9 USC vs. No. 8 Clemson ESPN2
4 p.m. No. 15 FDU at No. 2 Iowa ESPN
5 p.m. No. 13 Miami (OH) at No. 4 West Virginia ESPNU
5:30 p.m. No. 9 Syracuse vs. No. 8 Iowa State ESPN2
6 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship In The Studio Presented by AT&T ESPN
7 p.m. No. 15 High Point at No. 2 Vanderbilt ESPNEWS
7:30 p.m. No. 9 Princeton vs. No. 8 Oklahoma State ESPN2
9:30 p.m. No. 10 Colorado vs. No. 7 Illinois ESPN2
10 p.m. No. 16 Cal Baptist at No. 1 UCLA ESPN
Second Round Presented by Intuit TurboTax
Sun, Mar 22 Noon NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
12:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship In The Studio Presented by AT&T ABC
1 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ABC
2 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
3 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ABC
4 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
6 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
8 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
10 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
Mon, Mar 23 11:30 a.m. NCAA Women's Championship In The Studio Presented by AT&T ESPN
Noon NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
2 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
4 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
5 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN2
6 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
7 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN2
8 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
10 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Second Round ESPN
Sweet 16 Presented by Coca-Cola
Fri, Mar 27 2 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ESPN
2:30 p.m. Fort Worth 1 Regional - Sweet 16 Game 1 ESPN
4:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ESPN
5 p.m. Fort Worth 1 Regional - Sweet 16 Game 2 ESPN
7 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ESPN
7:30 p.m. Sacramento 2 Regional - Sweet 16 Game 1 ESPN
9:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ESPN
10 p.m. Sacramento 2 Regional - Sweet 16 Game 2 ESPN
Sat, Mar 28 Noon NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ABC
12:30 p.m. Fort Worth 3 Regional - Sweet 16 Game 1 ABC
2:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ABC
3 p.m. Fort Worth 3 Regional - Sweet 16 Game 2 ABC
5 p.m. Sacramento 4 Regional - Sweet 16 Game 1 ESPN
7 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ESPN
7:30 p.m. Sacramento 4 Regional - Sweet 16 Game 2 ESPN
Elite 8 Presented by AT&T
Sun, Mar 29 12:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ABC
1 p.m. Fort Worth 1 Regional - Elite 8 ABC
3 p.m. Sacramento 2 Regional - Elite 8 ABC
Mon, Mar 30 6:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Live Presented by AT&T ESPN
7 p.m. Fort Worth 3 Regional - Elite 8 ESPN
9 p.m. Sacramento 4 Regional - Elite 8 ESPN
Final Four Presented by AT&T
Fri, Apr 3 6 p.m. NCAA Women's Final Four Studio Presented by Capital One ESPN
7 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Semifinal 1 ESPN
7 p.m. Alt-Cast ESPN2
9 p.m. NCAA Women's Final Four Studio Presented by Capital One ESPN/ESPN2
9:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One - Semifinal 2 ESPN
9:30 p.m. Alt-Cast ESPN2
Sat, Apr 4 1 p.m. Women's College All-Star Game ESPN2
4 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Open Practice ESPN2
National Championship Presented by Capital One
Sun, Apr 5 2:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Special Presented by Capital One ABC
3:30 p.m. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One ABC
3:30 p.m. Alt-Cast ESPN
6 p.m. NCAA Women's Championship Post-Game Show Presented by Nissan ABC/ESPN
Updated matchups will be found here throughout the Championship
Games after the first round are subject to change

DII/DIII Coverage

ESPN+ is slated to stream the semifinals and title game of both the Division II/III Women's Basketball Tournament, with DIII set for March 19-21 and the DII games on March 26/28, respectively.

WBIT Coverage

The preliminary rounds of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (March 19-26) can be streamed live on ESPN+, while the semifinal games on Monday, March 30 will air on ESPNU at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. The WBIT Championship is slated to air on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2. Krista Blunk and Tabitha Turner will be on the call for the semifinals and championship game.

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