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LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 23: Gabriela Jaquez #11 and Charlisse Leger-Walker #5 of the UCLA Bruins celebrate by holding up a March Madness banner following the Oklahoma State Cowboys versus UCLA Bruins NCAA Women's Championship second round game on March 23, 2026, at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Greg Fiore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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The Women’s March Madness Sweet 16 is officially set with teams heading to the two regional sites of Sacramento, CA and Fort Worth, TX for the next two rounds of play, all in hopes of making it to the Final Four in Phoenix, AZ.
All four one-seed teams (UConn, Texas, South Carolina, and UCLA) are moving on to the next stage of the tournament. The one-seed teams had very little competition on their way to the Sweet 16, as the average win margin for their collective first eight games was 44.5 points.
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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 23: Kennedy Smith #11 of the Southern California Trojans and Ta'niya Latson #00 of the South Carolina Gamecocks go for a loose ball during a second round game of the 2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament held at Colonial Life Arena on March 23, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Tim Cowie/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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Key Upsets on the Way to the Sweet 16
Despite the dominance of the one-seeds in the tournament thus far, several major upsets occurred. First and probably the most impressive, No. 10 Virginia, a team that was a First Four team, is headed to the Sweet 16. This is the first team to ever move from the First Four game all the way to the third round in tournament history.
Virginia won in double overtime over No. 2 Iowa on Monday, March 23, 83-75 to send the Wahoos to the Sweet 16. This is the second year in a row that Iowa has lost out in the second round. For Virginia, the team was led by the duo of Kymora Johnson and Paris Clark who had 28 and 20 points respectively.
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IOWA CITY, IA - MARCH 23: The Virginia Cavaliers celebrate the double overtime win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 23, 2026 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
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No. 6 Notre Dame also joins the teams in the Sweet 16 after defeating No. 3 Ohio State 83-73 on Monday afternoon. Senior Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo had a double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds. In the loss, Ohio State’s guard Jaloni Cambridge contributed 41 points, but no other player on the team was able to break into double digit scoring alongside her.
The last upset of the opening rounds saw No. 5 Kentucky scrap by No. 4 West Virginia, securing the win the in final seconds, 74-73. The Wildcats were led by their bigs Teonni Key (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Clara Strack (18 points, 15 rebounds) who both recorded a double-double. In the loss, West Virginia guards Gia Cooke and Sydney Shaw had 23 points a piece.
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MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA - MARCH 23: Clara Stack #13 of the Kentucky Wildcats controls the ball against Gia Cooke #3 of the West Virginia Mountaineers during a second round game of the 2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament held at Hope Coliseum on March 23, 2026 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Greg Fiume/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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TV Schedule and Where to Watch
The Sweet 16 will begin on March 27 with Sacramento and Fort Worth hosting as the two regional sites for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.
Friday, March 27, Forth Worth Regional
No. 2 Vanderbilt vs. No. 6 Notre Dame at 2:30 pm ET on ESPN
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 4 University of North Carolina at 5 pm ET on ESPN
Friday, March 27, Sacramento Regional
No. 1 UCLA vs. No.4 Minnesota at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Duke at 10 pm ET on ESPN
Saturday, March 28, Forth Worth Regional
No.2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Louisville at 12:30 pm ET on ABC
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 5 Kentucky at 3 pm ET on ABC
Saturday, March 28, Sacramento Regional
No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Oklahoma at 5 pm ET on ESPN
No. 3 TCU vs. No. 10 Virginia at 7:30pm ET on ESPN
The Sunday, March 29 and Monday, March 30 Elite Eight games will be determined by the winners of the previous two days and the bracket and times will be updated accordingly. However, ESPN has the rights to the entire women’s March Madness tournament, thus, the games will be on one of their associated channels.
Another storyline to watch, no 4-16 seed has ever won the women’s March Madness tournament. The tournament has been dominated by seeds 1-3 throughout its history. Consequently, for No. 4 North Carolina, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Notre Dame, and No. 10 Virginia, the battle uphill to the Final Four in Phoenix will be steep.
The last No. 4 seed to make the championship game was No. 4 Syracuse in 2016. It was the first Final Four and first title game appearance for the Orange program.
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STORRS, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 23: Azzi Fudd #35 of the Connecticut Huskies shoots against the Syracuse Orange during the second half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on March 23, 2026 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
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The national champion has overwhelmingly come from the No. 1 seed in the past, with sports betting companies predicting the best odds for UConn to repeat in April in Phoenix.
Follow me for more sport business and women’s sports content and news on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, as well as follow along for my coverage of the Forth Worth Regional.
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