2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
The 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, barring potential disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is currently scheduled to be played in March and April 2021, with the Final Four played Friday, April 2 and Sunday, April 4. The Final Four will be played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas with the University of the Incarnate Word, University of Texas at San Antonio and San Antonio Sports serving as hosts. This is the third time the women's Final Four will be played in San Antonio (previously, in 2002 and 2010).
 | |||||
| Season | 2020–21 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 64 | ||||
| Finals site | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas | ||||
| |||||
Assuming that the tournament is held, it will be the first since 1983 in which the RPI will not be used in the selection process. On May 4, 2020, the NCAA announced that it would replace the RPI with the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool), a metric that has been used in the selection process for the D-I men's tournament since 2019. The women's version of the NET uses input data specific to the women's game, but is otherwise functionally identical to the men's version.[1]
2021 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
On December 14, 2020, the NCAA announced that the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament would be held in one geographic area. At the time, the original host of the Final Four, San Antonio, and surrounding areas had began preliminary discussions to host the entire 64-team tournament.[2] The new locations for the tournament were announced on February 5, 2021.[3][4]
First Round (March 21–22)
- Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of the Incarnate Word)
- Bill Greehey Arena, San Antonio (Hosts: University of Houston and St. Mary's University)
- Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin)
- Strahan Arena, San Marcos, Texas (Host: Texas State University)
- UTSA Convocation Center, San Antonio (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)
Second Round (March 23–24)
- Alamodome, San Antonio (Host: University of the Incarnate Word)
- Bill Greehey Arena, San Antonio (Hosts: University of Houston and St. Mary's University)
- UTSA Convocation Center, San Antonio (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)
Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) (March 27–30)
- Alamodome, San Antonio (Hosts: University of the Incarnate Word and University of Texas at San Antonio)
National Semifinals and Championship (April 2 and 4)
- Alamodome, San Antonio (Hosts: University of the Incarnate Word, University of Texas at San Antonio, and San Antonio Sports)
The Alamodome will use two courts for first- and second-round games and will be converted to a single court for later rounds. Practices will be held at the Alamodome and the Henry B. González Convention Center.
Original 2021 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The tournament's first two rounds were originally scheduled to be hosted by the top sixteen seeds. The following were the sites initially selected to host the later rounds of the 2021 tournament:[5][6][7]
Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) (March 26–29)
- Times Union Center, Albany, New York (Hosts: Siena College and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
- H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, Cedar Park, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin)
- Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (Hosts: Xavier University and Cincinnati USA Sports Commission)
- Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: University of Idaho)
National Semifinals and Championship (April 2 and 4)
- Alamodome, San Antonio (Hosts: University of the Incarnate Word, University of Texas at San Antonio, and San Antonio Sports)
References
- Voepel, Mechelle (May 4, 2020). "Women's Div. I hoop switching from RPI to NET to assess teams". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- Durham, Meghan (December 14, 2020). "San Antonio region viewed as potential host for 2021 DI Women's Basketball Championship". NCAA. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
- Nixon, Rick (February 5, 2021). "San Antonio region to host 2021 Division I Women's Basketball Championship". NCAA. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- Voepel, Mechelle (February 5, 2021). "Entire NCAA women's basketball tournament to be held in San Antonio area". ESPN. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- "Women's regional sites announced for '21-22". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- smeyers@ncaa.org (2018-09-24). "4 cities chosen as future NCAA Women's Final Four hosts". NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- Nixon, Rick (March 27, 2019). "Regional sites named for 2021 and 2022 DI women's basketball championship". NCAA. Retrieved February 5, 2021.