New NCAA women’s tournament format creates more convenient path for Gamecocks
For the South Carolina women’s basketball team, the road back to the Final Four won’t be a long one.
The NCAA announced Friday that the regional rounds of the 2023 women’s NCAA tournament will be played in a two-host format. Eight teams will play in Greenville and the other eight in Seattle, Washington.
In the case of South Carolina, the reigning champions could make a push to the national championship game without leaving the state.
The SEC tournament will also be played in Greenville — the host site through 2026 — from March 1-5. If the team finishes as one of the top-16 seeds in the Big Dance, it could host the Round of 64 and 32 games in Columbia.
The Final Four and national championship will be played in Dallas at American Airlines Center on March 31 and April 2.
The last time Dallas hosted the title game, head coach Dawn Staley brought home the first national championship win in program history.
The entire 2021 NCAA women’s tournament was hosted in Texas, with teams playing in Austin, San Marcos and San Antonio. The Gamecocks narrowly lost in the Final Four that year against Stanford.
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 12:16 PM.
