Skip to Main Content

March Madness: Women's Tournament

March Madness Women's Tournament

March Madness is the annual NCAA college basketball tournament, generally held throughout the month of March. The next March Madness will kick off with Selection Sunday on March 16, 2025.

Origin of the Women's NCAA March Madness Tournament

Although the NCAA Division I basketball tournament has been around since 1939, the women were not included until 1982. Women had a long fight with the NCAA before that, even after Title IX was passed in 1972, to realize this big change.
Strangely enough, that first NCAA women’s contest in 1982 coincided with another championship tournament put on by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). (Incidentally, Rutgers beat Texas to win the AIAW championship, and Louisiana Tech beat Cheyney State to win the NCAA tournament.)

Why were there two tournaments? Because up until the 1981-1982 school year, the NCAA was not interested in women’s sports championships. Those had been under the purview of the women-led AIAW, which had been governing women’s collegiate sports since 1971. Of the many ways it supported women’s sports, the AIAW played a role in the passage of Title IX in 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal funding.

However, in 1981, when the all-male-led-NCAA added women’s sports to its championship program for the first time, it created an uneven playing field in the battle with the AIAW for the governance of women’s collegiate sports. That fight lasted for about a year, but ultimately, the power and money of the NCAA won out. The AIAW folded in 1982.

Unfortunately, the NCAA hasn’t valued women’s sports as much as men’s sports throughout most of its existence. However, that is beginning to change, and one of the most conspicuous examples came with the 2022 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
An outcry on social media during the 2021 March Madness tournament pointed out the stark inequities between the men’s and women’s practice facilities and amenities. This led the NCAA to hire a law firm to conduct a review of gender equity related to the tournaments in general. The resulting report uncovered many examples of inequities related to spending on marketing and promotion, players’ meals and services, event staffing, and more. Continue reading from For Dummies

Watch Videos

From the Collection

Link to Unrivaled: UConn, Tennessee, and the twelve years that transcended women's basketball by Jeff Goldberg in the catalog
Link to Dynasty: UConn's 10-Title Reign by Hartford Courant in the catalog
Link to Heart of a Husky : determination, perseverance, and a quest for a national championship by Mel Thomas in the catalog
Link to Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection by Geno Auriemma in the catalog
Link to Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of the Team That Barnstormed Its Way to Basketball Glory by Lydia Reeder in the catalog