March Madness is here! But what is it?
It's spring, and that means that it's time for two of the greatest sports tournaments in the world: the men's and women's NCAA college basketball championship tournaments, also known as March Madness!
The 2025 NCAA women's tournament brings together 68 of the best college basketball teams in the country for one tournament to determine who will be crowned champion.
Every year, the NCAA tournament selection committee comes together and ranks the top 68 teams in women's basketball, granting four of them number one seeds, and splitting the tournament into four brackets all leading to the championship game.
Some of the biggest stars in women's basketball make their name in the tournament, like WNBA sensation Caitlin Clark, who led her Iowa team to the championship game last year where they lost to undefeated South Carolina.
For the uninitiated — or for non-sporty women with sporty girlfriends — March Madness can seem overwhelming, but don't worry, we've got you.
Here's everything you need to know about March Madness to convince that sporty butch you like that you know what you're talking about.
Why is it called 'March Madness'?
The term "March Madness" originally comes from a high school basketball tournament in Illinois in 1939, where Henry V. Porter, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) assistant executive secretary, wrote an essay celebrating the tournament and titled it "March Madness," (per NBC Philadelphia).
In 1982, sportswriter Brent Musburger used the term when covering the event for CBS, and it started to catch on.
In 2000, the NCAA and IHSA started sharing the name, and in 2010, the NCAA bought the license for the phrase.
It wasn't until 2022 that the NCAA started using the phrase for the women's tournament.
What is some women's March Madness history?
The women's tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994, and then to its current format of 68 teams, with four play-in games, in 2022.
Since 1994, the University of Connecticut, better known as UConn, has won a record 11 championships, including back to back in 2002-2004, 2009-2010, and 2012-2016. They are led by head coach Geno Auriemma, the winningest college basketball coach of all-time, with 1,245 wins.
Other teams with multiple championships include Tennessee, who won eight titles under coach Pat Summitt, and Baylor, South Carolina, and Stanford, who each have won three times.
Last year, South Carolina won the championship after beating future WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark and Iowa.Who should you root for in this year's women's college basketball tournament?
The number one overall seed for the first time in school history this year is UCLA, with a record of 30 wins and only two losses. However, they're not the favorite to win this year. That goes to another one of the number one seeds, last year's champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks. Led by coach Dawn Staley, the reigning champions have won two of the last three tournaments and are looking good to win a third.
Other possible contenders include another number one seed, USC, which beat UCLA twice this year, and UConn, which is a number two seed, but is led by the winningest coach in college basketball history. UConn has more NCAA championships than any other team, but hasn't won since 2016, so the team is hungry for another.
What Cinderella teams should you root for?
If you don't know, a Cinderella team is a lower seeded team that makes a run in the tournament, based on the metaphor of an unassuming commoner, who with a little magic, ends up dancing until midnight with the prince. These teams aren't favored, but with a little luck and destiny, surprise everyone and make it far into the tournament, maybe even winning.
However, in the history of the women's tournament, no school lower than a 3 seed has won, meaning that in this case, Cinderellas end up being anyone who is not a number one seed.
This year, that could include Notre Dame, which has twice won the tournament, and was ranked as the number one team in the country a few weeks ago, but dropped to a number 3 seed. Other hot teams include number 2 seed TCU, and number 4 seeds Baylor and Kentucky.
How long does March Madness last?
The 68-team tournament officially begins play on March 19, with the First Four games being played on March 19-20. These games are play-in games, where the winner enters the official first round of the 64-team tournament on March 21 and 22 in Spokane, Washington and Birmingham, Alabama.
The Sweet 16 takes place March 28-29, and the Elite 8 takes place March 30-31.
On April 4, the remaining teams head to Tampa, Florida for the semifinals (also called the Final Four), and the National Championship game takes place on April 6.
Where can you watch women's March Madness?
Every game will air on ESPN and its networks with select games airing on ABC.