Account
NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2019: Bracket and Championship Predictions
March 19, 2019
After the bracket was revealed on Monday, the NCAA women's basketball tournament begins on Friday with a slate of 16 first-round matchups, followed by 16 more on Saturday.
Much like past years, the bracket is stacked at the top, as none of the four No. 1 seeds have more than three losses this season. Baylor (31-1) is the No. 1 overall seed.
The NCAA tournament concludes with the Final Four in Tampa, Florida, on April 5, followed by the national championship game on April 7.
2019 Women's NCAA Tournament Schedule
View the full bracket here. All times ET.
First Round
Friday, March 22
No. 16 Robert Morris vs. No. 1 Louisville, 12 p.m., ESPN2
No. 13 Belmont vs. No. 4 South Carolina, 1:45 p.m., ESPN2
No. 15 Mercer vs. No. 2 Iowa, 2 p.m., ESPN2
No. 12 Rice vs. No. 5 Marquette, 2 p.m., ESPN2
No. 9 Kansas State vs. No. 8 Michigan, 2 p.m., ESPN2
No. 12 Bucknell vs. No. 5 Florida State, 4 p.m., ESPN2
No. 13 Wright State vs. No. 4 Texas A&M, 4 p.m., ESPN2
No. 10 Drake vs. No. 7 Missouri, 4 p.m., ESPN2
No. 10 Buffalo vs. No. 7 Rutgers, 4:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 15 Towson vs. No. 2 UConn, 6:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 10 Indiana vs. No. 7 Texas, 7 p.m., ESPN2
No. 9 Clemson vs. No. 8 South Dakota, 7 p.m., ESPN2
No. 12 UCF vs. No. 5 Arizona State, 7 p.m., ESPN2
No. 16 Southern vs. No. 1 Mississippi State, 9 p.m., ESPN2
No. 15 Portland State vs. No. 2 Oregon, 9 p.m., ESPN2
No. 13 Florida Gulf Coast vs. No. 4 Miami, 9 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday, March 23
No. 16 Bethune-Cookman vs. No. 1 Notre Dame, 11 a.m., ESPN2
No. 11 Princeton vs. No. 6 Kentucky, 11 a.m., ESPN2
No. 11 Quinnipiac vs. No. 6 South Dakota State, 11 a.m., ESPN2
No. 14 Maine vs. No. 3 NC State, 1 p.m., ESPN2
No. 14 Fordham vs. No. 3 Syracuse, 1 p.m., ESPN2
No. 11 Tennessee vs. No. 6 UCLA, 1 p.m., ESPN2
No. 9 Michigan State vs. No. 8 Central Michigan, 1 p.m., ESPN2
No. 12 Little Rock vs. No. 5 Gonzaga, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 11 Missouri State vs. No. 6 DePaul, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 9 North Carolina vs. No. 8 California, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 10 Auburn vs. No. 7 BYU, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 16 Abilene Christian vs. No. 1 Baylor, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 15 UC Davis vs. No. 2 Stanford, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 13 Boise State vs. No. 4 Oregon State, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 14 New Mexico State vs. No. 3 Iowa State, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 14 Radford vs. No. 3 Maryland, 11 p.m., ESPN2
Second Round
March 24-25 at campus sites
Sweet 16
March 29-30 in Albany, N.Y., Chicago, Greensboro, N.C., and Portland, Ore.
Elite Eight
March 31-April 1 in Albany, N.Y., Chicago, Greensboro, N.C., and Portland, Ore.
Final Four
April 5 in Tampa, Fla.
National Championship
April 7 in Tampa, Fla.
Predictions
Last year's NCAA women's Final Four featured the four No. 1 seeds. It's certainly possible that could be the case again this season.
However, one team that may prevent that from happening is UConn.
The Huskies are the No. 2 seed in the Albany region, marking the first time since 2006 that they didn't earn a No. 1 seed. But they still are having a strong season, as they enter the NCAA tournament with a 31-2 record after winning the AAC tournament championship.
UConn's only two losses came against Baylor, the No. 1 overall seed, and Louisville, the No. 1 seed in the Albany region. Not getting a No. 1 seed, paired with that earlier loss to the Cardinals, could have the Huskies extra motivated to make it to the Final Four for the 12th consecutive year.
Although UConn won four straight national championships from 2013-16, it has lost in the national semifinals the past two years to Mississippi State and Notre Dame, respectively.
The Huskies will be in the Final Four again this year, along with three No. 1 seeds—Baylor, Notre Dame and Mississippi State.
Once the tournament reaches that point, all the games should be highly competitive as the clear top class of women's college basketball teams battle it out for the national title.
However, Baylor has only one loss, and that came against Stanford back on Dec. 15. So, expect the Bears to continue to roll and win their first national championship since 2012.
Pick: Baylor over UConn in the national championship game