NCAA women’s tournament to expand to 68 teams. South Carolina’s Dawn Staley weighs in
This year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament will feature four more teams, moving up from 64 teams to a 68-team field for the 2021-2022 season, the NCAA announced Wednesday.
After the announcement, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said she wasn’t a fan of the move.
“I wasn’t in favor of it,” Staley said after the No. 1 Gamecocks’ 76-45 win Wednesday over Clemson. “You know, it does create more opportunities for teams, but the first-round games aren’t as exciting as probably on the men’s side, so I don’t know if that is beneficial to the game.”
The NCAA’s decision to expand the women’s tournament also moved this year’s selection show up to Sunday, March 13, to accommodate for the two extra games played March 16-17. The show had been held on a Monday since 2006.
The last four at-large teams and teams seeded 65 through 68 will compete in what the NCAA called “opening-round games” prior to the start of the tournament this season. For this season only, those four opening-round games will be held at four of the 16 sites selected to host first- and second-round games.
The opening round will be held at a to-be-determined neutral site starting in 2023.
The men’s tournament expanded from 64 to 68 teams in 2011 — with those first games typically held in Dayton, Ohio every year. The games were held at the same site as the full men’s tournament last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is it equitable? Yes,” Staley said. “We want to be equitable in some other places when it comes to comparing our tournaments.”
South Carolina unveiled its 2021 Final Four banner before the home opener against Clemson. Last season was the Gamecocks’ third trip to the Final Four, which have all occurred under Staley’s tutelage (2015, 2017, 2021). Staley’s USC won its first national title in 2017.
NCAA tournament history under Dawn Staley
2021 — No. 1 seed, Final Four
2019 — No. 4 seed, Sweet 16
2018 — No. 2 seed, Elite Eight
2017 — No. 1 seed, National champion
2016 — No. 1 seed, Sweet 16
2015 — No. 1 seed, Final Four
2014 — No. 1 seed, Sweet 16
2013 — No. 4 seed, second round
2012 — No. 5 seed, Sweet 16
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 10:36 PM.
