Caitlin Clark may have moved on from Iowa to the WNBA, but there's no shortage of stars in women's college basketball. Electric point guard MiLaysia Fulwiley and the interior strength of freshman Joyce Edwards, junior Chloe Kitts and senior Sania Feagin has South Carolina poised for a repeat. Six-foot-seven junior Lauren Betts has been at the center of UCLA's stellar season and Big Ten championship, and sophomore forward Madison Booker has propelled Texas to a top 5 ranking.
A trio of guards that made a splash in last year's tournament are back for this year's edition. USC's JuJu Watkins is second in the nation in scoring, and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame is fourth. Paige Bueckers doesn't score quite at the same clip as Watkins or Hidalgo but led UConn to an undefeated conference record and was named Big East Player of the Year for the third time. All three schools are national title contenders entering the NCAA tournament.
Read more: How to Watch the Men's March Madness Tournament Without Cable
Here's everything you need to know to get ready for the women's March Madness tournament, from Selection Sunday to the Final Four and the National Championship game.
Juju Watkins of USC and Paige Bueckers of UConn have their schools thinking of a national championship.
Joe Buglewicz/Getty ImagesWhen is Selection Sunday?
The women's March Madness bracket and matchups will be announced on Sunday, March 16, at 8 p.m. ET (8 p.m. PT ) on ESPN.
When does the women's NCAA tournament start?
The tournament starts with four play-in games over two nights that narrows the field to 64 teams. The First Four play-in games take place on March 19 and 20, and then the tournament really gets going with the first full day of games on Friday, March 21.
What is the women's March Madness tournament schedule?
Here's the schedule, round by round:
- First Four: March 19-20
- First round: March 21-22
- Second round: March 23-24
- Sweet 16: March 28-29
- Elite Eight: March 30-31
- Final Four: Friday, April 4
- National championship: Sunday, April 6
The games in the first two rounds are hosted by schools with the higher seeds in the tournament. Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be played in Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington. The Final Four and championship games will be played at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
How can I watch the women's March Madness tournament?
As in past years, the tournament will be shown across the ESPN family of channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and ABC. Games will also be streamed live on ESPN Plus.
What is the best way to watch the women's tournament?
The cheapest and easiest way to watch every game of the women's NCAA basketball tournament is to sign up for a month of ESPN Plus for $12.
ESPN's stand-alone streaming service costs $12 a month or $120 a year and will show every game of the tournament. You can also watch the Selection Sunday show on ESPN Plus this Sunday.
What are my other women's March Madness streaming options?
The best live TV streaming service for watching the women's tournament is YouTube TV. It offers all four ESPN channels and ABC in its base plan that costs $83 a month, and it offers multi-view so you can watch up to four games at once.
Fubo is the only other service with multi-view, but it costs more than YouTube TV and then forces you to pay extra to include ESPNU and ESPNEWS. DirectTV Stream's base plan costs more than YouTube TV's and doesn't include ESPNU or ESPNEWS. Sling TV is also a poor choice because it offers ABC in only a handful of markets.
That leaves Hulu with Live TV as the second-best choice. It lacks multi-view but its $83-a-month base plan includes all five channels needed to watch any game of the women's tournament.
YouTube TV costs $83 a month and includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and ABC so you can watch every game of the tournament. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area. Right now, the first six months are discounted to $70 a month, and there is a free, 21-day trial.
YouTube TV is our pick for March Madness. Not only is it the cheapest live TV streaming service (with the current discount for the first six months) that includes all five channels for the tournament, but it also offers multiview so you can watch four games at once -- perfect for a tournament that has so many games going on at once.
Hulu with Live TV costs $83 a month and includes ABC and the four ESPN channels for the women's tournament. Click the "View channels in your area" link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your ZIP code.
Each of the live TV streaming services above allows you to cancel anytime and requires a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.
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