Selection Sunday arrives this weekend, with the top performers in Division I women's basketball preparing to learn their 2026 NCAA tournament fates.
A full 31 teams will breathe easier knowing their conference tournament titles secured automatic spots in this year's March Madness, including mid-major standouts like South Dakota State, Samford, Colorado State, and Fairfield.
However, the rest of the NCAA's best will be hoping their 2025/26 campaigns impressed the selection committee enough to earn one of the 37 at-large bids — a field typically overwhelmingly populated by Power Four titans.
All teams — automatic qualifiers and potential at-large selectees alike — will lock into Sunday's broadcast, as the 68-team bracket will reveal each squad's path to the national championship.
Following their perfect 2025/26 season, defending champ No. 1-ranked UConn is all-but-guaranteed to take the bracket's No. 1 overall seed, with one-loss No. 2 UCLA also gunning for top-seeded entry after running the table in the Big Ten.
Meanwhile, SEC tournament title game opponents No. 3 Texas and No. 4 South Carolina will likely take the national competition's final two No. 1 seeds, with No. 5 LSU and No. 6 Vanderbilt on the outside looking in after clunky conference tournament runs.
All top prospects are aiming to break into the Top 16 on Sunday, as that elite tier of teams will have home-court advantage in the first two full-tournament rounds, serving as hosts for opening weekend once next week's First Four games are in the books.
How to watch the NCAA women's basketball's Selection Sunday
The full 68-team 2026 March Madness bracket will drop at 8 PM ET this Sunday, live on ESPN.
