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Women's NCAA Tournament bracket: Who's in, out and on March Madness bubble
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- Women's NCAA Tournament bracket: Who's in, out and on March Madness bubble
We are moving closer to the 2026 women's NCAA tournament.
The full 68-team bracket for the March Madness will be announced on Sunday, March 15 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. Thirty-one teams that win their respective conference championships will earn a spot in the tournament, as well as 37 at-large bids.
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REQUIRED READING: Women's college basketball bracketology post Power 4 Conference tournaments
While we have another full week to wait for the entire bracket to be revealed, we already know some of the field, with the teams that have won their conference championships that will be in the field. A bunch of teams have also outright clinched due to their respective resumes.
USA TODAY Sports' Mitchell Northam revealed his latest bracketology on Sunday, March 8. Based on his projections, here's a look at the latest women's NCAA Tournament preview, including bubble teams and locks to reach March Madness:
March Madness women's bracket bubble watch tracker
March Madness locks
Based on games through 7:30 p.m. ET, Monday, March 8
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Big 12 (2): West Virginia, TCU
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Big Ten (9):Minnesota, Michigan, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, Maryland
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ACC (4): Notre Dame, Louisville, North Carolina, Duke
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SEC (8):Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss , LSU, Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama
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Big East (1): UConn
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Other (8): James Madison, Jacksonville, Rhode Island, High Point, Western Illinois, Samford, South Dakota State, James Madison
At least 31 teams are locked into the NCAA Tournament for the women's side. That's through outright bids and clinching automatic berths through winning their respective conferences. The teams in this section are all top six seeds in Northam's latest projection.
Note:Fairfield and Quinnipiac were playing in the MAAC championship game on Monday, March 9, while UConn played Villanova in the Big East championship game.
Several conference championship games are still upcoming.
Women's basketball NCAA Tournament likely ins
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Big 12 (4): Iowa State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
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Big Ten (1):USC
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ACC (2): Virginia Tech, North Carolina State
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SEC (2):Tennessee, Georgia
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Big East (1): Villanova
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Other (0): N/A
Women's basketball NCAA Tournament bubble teams
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Big 12 (4): Colorado, Arizona State, BYU, Kansas State,
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Big Ten (1):Nebraska
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ACC (5): Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Clemson, Virginia, Stanford
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SEC (3):Mississippi State, Florida, Texas A&M
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Big East (0): N/A
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Other (3): Richmond, North Dakota State, Columbia
Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Clemson and Richmond earned the last four byes from Northam, while Virginia, Colorado, Arizona State and Nebraska were the last four in.
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North Dakota State, Mississippi State, Florida and BYU are the first four out of the tournament. They likely will have some hope, but not many when Selection Sunday comes.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Women's basketball March Madness bracket: Locks, NCAA Tournament bubble
