By Charlie Creme Updated: 3/6/2022 at 8:40 a.m. ET
The 2022 women’s NCAA tournament will have a considerably different look from what we saw last March. Fans will be back, and host cities for the first and second rounds, as well as four distinct regional sites, also return. The biggest change, however, is the shift to a 68-team field from 64 previously. The women’s bracket selection also moves up a day, to Selection Sunday. ESPN will be with you every step of the way, projecting the NCAA tournament bracket and which teams are on the bubble as the march toward Minneapolis and the Final Four continues.
Bracket Watch
Saturday brought more upsets. Kentucky and Miami, the primary giant slayers, are the most upwardly mobile teams in the bracket. The Wildcats, who have advanced to the SEC final, are a No. 8 seed in our latest projection. The Hurricanes, who on back-to-back days knocked off the ACC tournament’s Nos. 2 and 3 seeds, have gone from “not even under consideration” on Feb. 17 to a No. 9 seed after the results Saturday. Still, despite the upsets, the top 16 hasn’t dramatically changed. The reason? There have been too many upsets. For example, Oklahoma, which entered Saturday as the No. 16 team, lost to Kansas. The Sooners stood pat, however, because the teams behind them that might have taken that spot — Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Oregon, North Carolina and Ohio State — all lost within the past two days.
On the Bubble
68-Team Bracket
Bridgeport
Raleigh
Bloomington
Knoxville
Ames
Greensboro
Columbia
College Park
Austin
Storrs
Wichita
Louisville
Tucson
Iowa City
Waco
Spokane
Stanford
Norman
Ann Arbor
Baton Rouge
Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock
original source: Women’s Bracketology: Kentucky, Miami rise with conference tournament runs
