The NCAA is leveling the playing field, with Women’s March Madness teams in line to receive their first-ever prize payouts based on tournament performance — a mechanism the men’s tournament has enjoyed since 1991.
Sparked by 2021's landmark NCAA gender equity review, the NCAA will distribute a total of approximately $15 million to individual conferences based on how many games their teams play, with each March Madness performance "unit" worth about $113,000.
This year's inaugural $15 million purse represents 26% of the competition's $65 million media rights valuation — putting it proportionally on par with the percentage allocated to the men's fund.
That overall prize pool will jump to $20 million in 2026 and $25 million in 2027, before switching to a successive 2.9% increase per year.
"We are all playing in the same March Madness," said UNC Greensboro head coach Trina Patterson, whose No. 16-seed Spartans will face No. 1-seed USC in the first round on Saturday. "The treatment for the men and women should be equal. We get a unit!"
March Madness teams get additional NCAA tournament perks
While the performance payouts are new this year, women's March Madness teams also receive perks like charter flights throughout the tournament, which can make all the difference for smaller programs eyeing an upset.
"Everyone is so excited about the experience. Going from the bus directly to the plane, everyone was so happy," March Madness debutante William & Mary head coach Erin Dickerson Davis told ESPN ahead of her No. 16-seed team’s First Four victory on Thursday.
Columbia junior Perri Page, whose No. 11-seed Lions defeated Washington in their own First Four matchup on Thursday, echoed Davis' sentiment, saying, "It was cool going to the charter, and we've been taking it all in."
"We've been enjoying the whole season," the forward added, noting "It's great we can make money for the school now."
"It should have always been that way. Women's basketball has been fighting for equality for a very long time," said Davis. "I've been in this business for many, many years. I played college basketball. It's a long time coming."
"You got to start somewhere, and I think we've been so far behind," added Columbia head coach Megan Griffith.
"This is more like the whipped cream. I think the cherry on top is going to keep coming — but it's really good so far."
Less than two months before the season tips off on May 16th, the WNBA dropped its full 2025 national broadcast slate on Thursday, rewarding last year’s most in-demand teams with a significant uptick in screen time.
Fueled by the fan fervor around 2024 Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever will see a league-record 41 of their 44 regular-season games aired nationally this season.
That tally includes all five Fever matchups against regional rival Chicago, after the pair's June 23rd game averaged 2.3 million viewers — becoming the most-watched game of the 2024 regular season.
Just behind Indiana in earning significant national broadcast coverage are two-time WNBA champs Las Vegas, who will see 33 of their games aired across the country. As for the reigning champions New York Liberty, they trail the Aces by just one game, with 32 of their 2025 season games garnering national attention.
Record WNBA ratings spur big broadcast moves
Thanks to 2024’s monster ratings, big-name networks are increasingly recognizing the WNBA as a profitable summer product, with broadcasters expanding their coverage as the league prepares for its 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights contract to kick in next year.
With the 2025 WNBA season expanding from 40 to 44 games per team, ION is leading all broadcasters with 50 regular-season games, with ABC/ESPN, CBS Sports, NBA TV, and Amazon Prime all taking a piece of the pro women's basketball league's pie.
Broadcasters are also moving games off of their sports-specific networks and onto flagship cable channels, with a record 13 matchups — a full half of Disney Networks' 26 regular-season games — set to air on ABC, including the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game.
The league will also see its first-ever regular-season games earn primetime broadcast TV slots, with CBS Sports elevating two of its 20 games — the June 7th and August 9th battles between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever — to its flagship network, CBS.
As the WNBA shoots for an even more impactful 2025 season, broadcasters are helping to boost the charge, offering increased access to the league’s brightest stars and biggest games.
The NCAA tournament tips off in earnest with the bracket's 64-team first round on Friday, as eager March Madness fans look beyond the chalk to eye the competition's underdogs after a rollercoaster 2024/25 basketball season.
Early upsets aren’t exactly the norm in the women’s tournament. Only one lower seed won their first-round matchup in 2024, and no team below a No. 3 seed has ever gone the distance, but in a season of increased parity, a few lower-rated squads are rounding into underdog form.
Breaking down potential March Madness bracket-busters
For potential March Madness upset instigators, late-season momentum late season momentum is the name of the game — a dangerous factor in any single-elimination tournament.
Even without superstar grad Caitlin Clark, No. 6-seed Iowa capped their regular season on a high before narrowly losing to No. 4-seed Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament's quarterfinals. Should they advance past No. 11-seed Murray State in their first-round Saturday matchup, the Hawkeyes are poised to give No. 3-seed Oklahoma a run for their money in the second round on Monday.
Entering as a No. 10-seed, Ivy League tournament champs Harvard will have their hands full against No. 7-seed Michigan State on Saturday, but Crimson senior Harmoni Turner and her season-average 22.5 points per game could tilt the scales in Harvard's favor.
After edging out first-round opponent No. 11-seed Iowa State, No. 6-seed Michigan is playing like an upset contender. Now a potential second-round matchup against No. 3-seed Notre Dame — fresh off a recent losing skid — awaits the young squad.
With the brackets locked and the teams loaded, the prospects of twists and turns make the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament especially exciting — even if this year’s frontrunners appear destined for Tampa.
How to watch Women's March Madness games this weekend
The Big Dance officially begins at 11:30 AM ET on Friday, when No. 11 Iowa State tips off against No. 6 Michigan on ESPN2.
Saturday's slate will complete the 2024/25 NCAA tournament's first round, with No. 6 Iowa beginning their Madness run against No. 11 Murray State at 12 PM ET on ESPN.
No. 10 Harvard will start dancing a few hours later, with the Crimson facing No. 7 Michigan State at 4:30 PM ET on ESPNews.
All games in the 2025 March Madness tournament will have live coverage across ESPN networks.
The first-ever Unrivaled Basketball playoffs delivered both on and off the court, with Rose BC’s championship victory over Vinyl BC drawing the largest TV audience the offseason league has seen in 3×3 play to date.
An average of 364,000 viewers tuned into Monday’s final, peaking at 385,000 fans and marking a 99% increase over Unrivaled’s record-breaking regular-season average audience of 221,000.
Including the league's postseason success, Unrivaled capped its inaugural season having aired the 10 most-watched women’s basketball broadcasts in the history of broadcast partner TNT Sports.
In total, Unrivaled reached an impressive 11.9 million viewers across its two-month regular-season and postseason run — including the league's first-ever in-season 1v1 tournament.
That head-to-head competition ultimately drew the league's top performing tilt, with the final between runner-up Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards and eventual 1v1 champion and Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier averaging 377,000 viewers with a 398,000-fan peak.
"We’ve built an incredible foundation," Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell told reporters once the season wrapped. "Based on what the viewership is, now it’s our job to [ask] 'how do we grow that a bit?' We’re very proud about where we stand in the women’s sports ecosystem of viewership."
Unrivaled bags more big wins in inaugural season
Outside of TV viewership, Unrivaled also scored high social media engagement numbers, which have been a key metric for the league since its outset.
This season saw the league generate more than 589 million owned and earned social media impressions, and the pool of Unrivaled athletes collectively grew their own personal accounts by nearly one million followers in less than three months.
Perhaps most importantly for the players, the league followed through on its promise to prioritize athlete compensation, shelling out over $8.65 million in player salaries and performance bonuses from both Monday's championship and last month's 1v1 tournament.
With the offseason league designed primarily as a TV product, both Unrivaled and TNT will carry 2025’s wins far into their six-year partnership’s future — all while the WNBA will look to capitalize on the league’s ratings successes as its own May 16th season-opener nears.
As the 2025 NCAA tournament tips off this week, few Women's March Madness teams have had a more remarkable run than No. 1 overall seed UCLA.
The Bruins only lost two regular-season games this year, a streak that led to a Big Ten conference tournament title, and, eventually, top-ranked entry into this weekend’s tournament start. By securing the first No. 1 overall seed in program history, this group of UCLA players has already proven themselves the most successful in school history — with additional hardware firmly on the horizon.
But junior Kiki Rice has preferred to keep things in perspective, as she told Just Women’s Sports in the quiet days between the regular season’s end and the postseason's launch.
“The reality is we lost two games the entire year, and that's a pretty good record: 27-2,” she said matter-of-factly. “I think most people would be pretty happy with that.”
UCLA did, however, launch their Big Ten tournament campaign with unfinished business, having fallen twice to crosstown rival USC to cede the regular-season conference title. While they got their revenge in the Big Ten tournament title game, UCLA head coach Cori Close wasn’t shy about wanting to meet the Trojans one more time — at the NCAA Final Four in Tampa.
A Final Four battle would give UCLA the ability to draw even with JuJu Watkins and the Trojans this season, claiming the biggest bragging rights of all. But Rice knows that once-in-a-lifetime opportunities start with everyday consistency.
“It’s about resetting, and how we can move on, get better, and learn,” she said. “How we individually can be better for our teammates and be better for our coach.”
All eyes on women's basketball — and UCLA
As the profile of women’s basketball rises at an exponential rate year after year, many college programs have benefited from the broader spotlight. But winning remains one of the best promotional tools available, and UCLA doubled down on that prospect, signing star transfer Lauren Betts last season in a move that culminated in back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances.
This year, though, the Bruins want more. And as the team’s star power continues to emerge, anything seems possible.
Rice has been one of those stars. Literally — she starred in ESPN’s 2024 docuseries Full Court Press, giving fans a chance to see behind the curtain into what makes the 21-year-old tick. And while Betts pulls defensive focus on the court, Rice can make the offense sing. She leads the team in assists and steals per game, carrying a heavy load when games get tough.
As a young player making a name for herself, Rice enjoys the off-court attention. But she’s not immune to the pressure that accompanies greater scrutiny.
“It’s been a lot,” she reflects. “But it's also been something that me, and I think the rest of my teammates, we wanted. It's part of being in women's sports at this time, where it's really growing so much.”
She described the national attention as a welcome change. With attendance, TV viewership, brand deals, and other KPIs on the rise, the Bruins know it’s time to seize the moment.
“This is what we deserve,” Rice said resolutely. “Let's take advantage of it, and be thankful for it.”
Rice embraces the spotlight on and off the court
But if success on the court fuels exposure off the court, Rice understands the importance of balancing the bigger picture with remaining focused on the task at hand. And that mindset especially rings true in the era of blockbuster NIL deals.
“I want to take advantage of all these opportunities,” she said. “But they take time, and that's time away from school, that's time away from personal relaxation and reset time. That's time away from being in the gym.”
Rice has garnered attention from countless brands over the course of her college career. That includes signing with Jordan Brand as their first-ever NIL contract in 2022. Since that milestone, she’s gone on to work with major players in the women’s sports ad space like Buick, Dove, Neutrogena, and Beats by Dre, among others.
“I've definitely gotten more used to it,” she continued. “But I wouldn't say it's always easy”
March Madness AT&T ad highlights UCLA stars
Today’s student-athletes are expected to keep up with their studies and stay fit on the court, while also participating in the larger sports cultural conversation via brand partnerships and media appearances. That’s why fans will see Rice’s face throughout the tournament — and not just sweating it out in UCLA blue and gold.
When the game cuts to commercial, you might spot Rice starring in a new AT&T TV ad alongside Betts, promoting the sport both Bruins love to play. She even got a chance to flex a few comedy muscles onscreen, saying that her experience in front of the camera was nothing but positive.
“To be part of such a high quality production and film that commercial, I had a great time doing it,” she said, adding that Betts has been a friend she can lean on when the balancing act that is modern-day college sports gets too stressful.
“I feel like she kind of understands, and is going through something very similar,” Rice says of her teammate and AT&T co-star.
Getting UCLA tournament ready from the inside-out
She also credits her family as a major source of support, even if they're many miles away on the East Coast, where Rice became one of the country's top high school prospects. And over the years, she’s taken personal responsibility in creating her own stability. She learned from experience the cadence required to not let fatigue set in at the end of a grueling basketball season.
Rice especially prioritizes taking care of her body, as March’s schedule sees games in quick succession. But she also grounds herself in the moment, viewing March Madness as not just a point of pressure, but one of opportunity.
“We've been talking about the NCAA tournament and Big Ten tournament all season long,” said Rice. “It's just like we talk about in practice: We have a new new season ahead of us, two new seasons coming up.”
But for all Rice’s individual and collective achievements so far, when the Bruins tip off against Southern University on Saturday, the pursuit of greatness begins anew. From falling just short of a regular-season title to edging out USC in the Big Ten tournament, Rice is eager to put a winning stamp on an already historic UCLA season.
“At the end of the day, we're just trying to win,” she said. “We don’t have that long, so we’ve got to take advantage of it.”
With the March Madness No. 1 seeds evenly split between the Big Ten and SEC, April’s Final Four becoming a conference tournament championship rematch doubleheader is very much on the table.
The quadrants led by SEC tournament finalists South Carolina and Texas share one side of the bracket, meaning the Gamecocks and Longhorns could meet before the 2024/25 NCAA championship game in an all-conference semifinal.
Similarly, crosstown rivals UCLA and USC top the other two quadrants, putting the LA teams on course for all-Big Ten semifinal.
Both conference pairs have already faced off three times this season, with South Carolina holding a 2-1 2024/25 record over Texas and USC riding into the Big Dance with the same record over UCLA.
Other top teams hunt rematches with NCAA No. 1 seeds
Before the No. 1 seeds lock in on any all-conference semis, however, they must advance past other elite contenders — some of whom have recent beef with the quadrant queens.
No. 3 seed Notre Dame — the only team to fail to snag a No. 1 March Madness spot after reaching the AP Poll's top ranking this season — awaits a possible 2024/25 rematch with Texas in the Elite Eight round, with the Irish eyeing a second season victory over the Longhorns after toppling Texas 80-70 in December.
As for No. 1-seed USC, the Trojans sit on a collision course with No. 2 UConn, setting up what could be a second-straight Elite Eight battle between the pair. The Huskies won last year's encounter 80-73 behind 28 points from superstar Paige Bueckers, before falling to eventual tournament runners-up Iowa in the 2023/24 Final Four.
That said, USC already defeated UConn once this season, with sophomore phenom JuJu Watkins putting up 25 points in the the Trojans' narrow 72-70 December win.
For these potential non-conference games, the rematches are somewhat by design, as top programs try to stack their schedules with the NCAA's best teams each season, both to challenge their rosters and to build their NCAA tournament resumes.
"If you play a good enough schedule, you're always going to run into somebody you've already seen," explained legendary UConn head coach Geno Auriemma earlier this week.
While bracket busters could impede an all No. 1-seed Final Four, no team seeded lower than No. 3 has ever won an NCAA championship, meaning at least a few of these top-tier rematches are likely in the coming weeks.
How to watch the Women's March Madness tournament first round
No. 6-seed Michigan and First Four winner No. 11-seed Iowa State open the tournament, tipping off March Madness at 11:30 AM ET on Friday, with live coverage on ESPN2.
The first top seed to take the court in Friday's 16-game slate is South Carolina, who will face No. 16-seed Tennessee Tech at 4 PM ET before UCLA closes out the night against First Four winner No. 16-seed Southern at 10 PM ET.
Both No. 1-seed games will air live on ESPN.
The AP dropped the 2024/25 All-America first, second, and third teams on Wednesday, offering few surprises as top names from star programs dominated the lineup.
Sophomores JuJu Watkins (USC) and Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) both earned first-team honors for the second straight year, becoming just the third and fourth players to ever snag the honor in their first two seasons. They now join former college standouts and WNBA champions Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) and Maya Moore (UConn) in that elite club.
UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Texas’s Madison Booker, and UCLA’s Lauren Betts also earned first-team recognition, with the AP’s roster aligning with last week’s National Player of the Year shortlists.
Watkins, Bueckers, and Betts are the only unanimous first-team selectees, with Bueckers also making a splash by becoming just the 12th-ever player to earn an All-America nod for the third time.
March Madness tournament features all 2024/25 All-Americans
Program success and individual achievement strode hand-in-hand across the All-America selections, with all first-team players representing squads seeded No. 3 or higher in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
The second and third teams were more varied, though all players still feature on the 2025 March Madness bracket.
The second team tapped LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, UConn’s Sarah Strong, Florida State’s Ta'niya Latson, Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore, and Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles.
Meanwhile, USC’s Kiki Iriafen, TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, LSU's Flau'Jae Johnson, Iowa State's Audi Crooks, and Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes earned third-team recognition.
Notably, defending champion and No. 1 seed South Carolina failed to see any player named an All-American, though four Gamecocks did receive honorable mentions.
While awards are a small part of a season's story, the 2024/25 AP All-America teams do reflect a year filled with big stars and even bigger parity.
The 2024/25 AP All-America teams
First Team:
- JuJu Watkins, USC sophomore
- Paige Bueckers, UConn senior
- Lauren Betts, UCLA junior
- Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame sophomore
- Madison Booker, Texas sophomore
Second Team:
- Aneesah Morrow, LSU senior
- Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State junior
- Olivia Miles, Notre Dame senior
- Sarah Strong, UConn freshman
- Georgia Amoore, Kentucky senior
Third Team:
- Hailey Van Lith, TCU senior
- Kiki Iriafen, USC senior
- Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt freshman
- Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU junior
- Audi Crooks, Iowa State sophomore
Honorable Mention:
- Raegan Beers, Oklahoma junior
- Sonia Citron, Notre Dame junior
- Katie Dinnebier, Drake senior
- Joyce Edwards, South Carolina freshman
- Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga senior
- MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina sophomore
- Rori Harmon, Texas senior
- Izzy Higginbottom, Arkansas senior
- Aziaha James, NC State senior
- Lauren Jensen, Creighton senior
- Taylor Jones, Texas senior
- Chloe Kitts, South Carolina junior
- Ayoka Lee, Kansas State senior
- Cotie McMahon, Ohio State junior
- Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina senior
- Sedona Prince, TCU senior
- JJ Quinerly, West Virginia senior
- Kiki Rice, UCLA junior
- Shyanne Sellers, Maryland senior
- Serena Sundell, Kansas State senior
- Makayla Timpson, Florida State senior
- Harmoni Turner, Harvard senior
- Mikayla Williams, LSU sophomore
Former Tennessee basketball coach Kellie Harper is on the move to Missouri, with the school naming Harper as the program's fifth-ever head coach on Tuesday.
"I am incredibly honored to be the next head coach at Mizzou," Harper said in the school's announcement. "Missouri is a special place, and I know firsthand the passion and pride that surrounds this program... The foundation is in place for success — and I can't wait to get started."
Harper replaces previous Tigers boss Robin Pingeton, who resigned last month after 15 seasons. She subsequently stepped away after the team finished last in the SEC for two consecutive seasons.
In her five seasons leading the Vols, Harper earned a 108-52 overall record. She parted ways with Tennessee after last year’s second-round NCAA tournament flameout.
Even so, Harper's 53-24 overall conference record at Tennessee trailed only four-time NCAA title-winning coach Kim Mulkey (LSU) and three-time national champion leader Dawn Staley (South Carolina) in SEC winning percentage.
"Kellie is a proven winner and dynamic leader who understands the 'Will to Win' necessary to succeed at the sport's highest level," said Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch.
Harper brings exceptional resume to Missouri
Harper earned three straight NCAA championships as a player under legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. Then, she began building a playoff-heavy resume as a coach.
In her 20 years leading DI teams, Harper led them to 16 postseason berths, including nine trips to March Madness. She remains one of just two NCAA coaches to ever take four different programs to the tournament.
Before taking the Vols to back-to-back Sweet Sixteens in 2022 and 2023, Harper's first trip to thaat NCAA tournament round came with Missouri State in 2019. That's when she took a Cinderella team on a run to cap her six-year tenure with the Bears.
It's that title-hunting experience that Missouri is hoping to harness, as the Tigers haven't made the March Madness cut since 2019 — the year that the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury drafted Mizzou's all-time leading scorer Sophie Cunningham.
"I am thrilled," said the Missouri alum and new Indiana Fever guard. "I have so much respect for coach Harper, and I can't wait to support her and our Tigers however I can."
March Madness opens its doors on Wednesday night, as the 2024/25 NCAA tournament’s First Four round takes the court with eight teams pursuing the final four tickets to the Big Dance.
Two of the play-in games will pit the last four teams to receive at-large bids against each other, sending Princeton, Iowa State, Washington, and Columbia into battle to snag one of the tournament's final two No. 11 bids.
The other two games are comprised of the lowest ranked conference tournament champions, meaning SWAC champ Southern, Big West winner UC San Diego, CAA victors William & Mary, and Big South title-holders High Point will all compete to enter this weekend's first round as No. 16 seeds.
First Four ups the ante with compelling NCAA storylines
Thanks to growing parity across the NCAA, this year’s First Four brings a new level of heat, with 2024 breakout stars, conference titans, and tournament newcomers raising the stakes right from the jump.
As two of 2025’s six March Madness debutants, both UC San Diego and William & Mary are hoping for a bit of beginner's luck as they take the NCAA tournament court for the very first time.
Meanwhile, the Ivy League will take aim at securing three spots in the 64-team bracket, with both Princeton and Columbia hoping to join conference tournament champion No. 10 seed Harvard in the first round's field.
Standing in Princeton's way is underdog Iowa State, who nearly scored what would have been one of the 2024 tournament's biggest upsets.
Fueled by now-sophomore sharpshooter Audi Crooks — who currently ranks 12th in the nation in field goal percentage — the Cyclones pushed then-No. 2 seed Stanford to the brink, forcing overtime before the Cardinal claimed the 87-81 second-round victory.
"It’s definitely possible," Crooks said this week, commenting on the likelihood of replicating Iowa State's 2024 run. "I think for me it just amplified me personally, and also us as a team. Any success that I have is the team’s success, not necessarily about individual things."
How to watch Women's March Madness First Four games
Stepping into Wednesday's spotlight are Princeton and Iowa State, who will take the court at 7 PM ET before UC San Diego takes on Southern at 9 PM ET.
Then on Thursday, Washington will face Columbia at 7 PM ET, with William & Mary's match against High Point wrapping up the First Four round at 9 PM ET.
Both Wednesday matchups will air on ESPNU, with ESPN2 carrying live coverage of the Thursday clashes.
Securing a Women’s March Madness ad spot has never been tougher, with Disney and ESPN reporting a 200% year-over-year rise in total ad sales, with an impressive 95% of the 2024/25 NCAA tournament's overall inventory already sold.
Ads for April 6th's championship game completely sold out over three months ago, as brand interest surges alongside women's college basketball's skyrocketing viewership.
With some of the championship spots topping $1 million, Disney Advertising now puts those seven-figure March Madness ad rates on par with the cost of advertising during the NBA Finals or College Football Playoff National Championship game.
Brands race to buy ad space in women's sports
Revenue and impact generated by women’s basketball advertising has been on the rise all season, fueling the race to buy into one of the year's biggest sports moments.
While 45 new brands hopped on the March Madness train this year, previous brands returned with even bigger budgets, increasing their 2025 spending by an average of 81%.
"We actually had to strategically fight to not sell out sooner," Disney Advertising VP of revenue and yield management Jacqueline Dobies told AdWeek. "We intentionally wanted to carve out space for as many of our brands as possible and be as inclusive as possible for this particular property."
"If we would have taken every single dollar and unit we had been offered, we would have sold out before the upfront was even over."
As advertisers continue to elbow their way into the space, expect the March Madness uptick to spill over into future events across women’s sports — especially as brands who are late to the party scramble to buy in.
"A lot of years ago, the question was: 'How do we convince brands to buy women’s sports?'" noted Dobies. "That’s not the conversation anymore. It’s: 'How do we make space for everybody?'"