Predicting the Field: Women’s NCAA Tournament 2024
By Charlie Creme
Published: 2/9/2024 at 9:25 a.m. ET
We will forecast the lineup of 68 teams every Tuesday and Friday until Selection Sunday on March 17. Albany, New York, and Portland, Oregon, are set to host the regionals for the second consecutive year in the continued two-site format. The grand finale will take place in Cleveland for the Final Four on April 5 and 7.
Assessment of Teams
The bubble teams have seen little movement in the past couple of weeks. Despite several losses by teams bordering the bubble, such as Michigan, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt, there hasn’t been much shifting either in or out of the tournament field. The lack of displacement is due to the absence of strong replacements. Teams like Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington are struggling, while Richmond and George Mason from the Atlantic 10 have struggled against top-ranked opponents. The SEC bubble teams have been evenly matched, creating opportunities for others to break in but no one has capitalized on these chances as of now.
Bubble Watch
In the 68-Team Bracket, teams are vying for a spot based on their current performance and ranking in various regions like Albany, Columbia, Spokane, Los Angeles, Columbus, Portland, Raleigh, Manhattan, Baton Rouge, Boulder, Iowa City, Blacksburg, Storrs, Stanford, Bloomington, Louisville, and Austin.
Diversity in Conferences
Stats and images courtesy of ESPN Illustration, Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, Icon Sportswire, and EPA/Shutterstock. For more insights and updates on the Women’s NCAA Tournament 2024, check out our extended feature.