The Sweet 16 bracket is set for those who survived and advanced in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. They’ll now prepare to hit the road come for another slate of games later this week.
The first two rounds of competition wrapped Monday night and there was no shortage of upsets and beatdowns through 52 games.
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Five games were decided by single digits, including No. 1 Louisville’s nine-point win over No. 9 Gonzaga. For the 12th straight season, all four No. 1 seeds sailed through to the Sweet 16.
No. 2 seeds didn’t fare as well in the second round.
Creighton’s Lauren Jenson, a transfer from Iowa, sent the Hawkeyes packing on Saturday in a thrilling upset. Just hours later, South Dakota beat Baylor 61-49, denying the Bears a bid to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008. Geno Auriemma and the No. 2 UConn Huskies narrowly avoided the same fate on Sunday, outlasting the No. 7 UCF Knights 52–47.
The remaining field includes nine teams from last year’s Sweet 16: Stanford, Louisville, South Carolina, Texas, Maryland, Indiana, NC State, UConn and Michigan. Meanwhile, Notre Dame and Tennessee -- both women’s basketball blue bloods -- are returning to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2019 and 2016, respectively. The Irish advanced in decisive fashion, beating No. 4 Oklahoma in Norman by 42 points.
Creighton and South Dakota -- both No. 10 seeds -- are making their Sweet 16 debuts at the Division I level. The Coyotes previously made four runs to the Division II Sweet 16. Double-digit seeds have only made the Elite Eight twice in tournament history and both teams will have a chance to add to that number.
Competition resumes with the Sweet 16 on Friday and Saturday, followed by the Elite Eight on Sunday and Monday. The regional champions will meet in the Final Four on April 1 in Minneapolis to determine who will cut down the nets.
Here’s a look at every team remaining in the tournament and their Sweet 16 matchup:
Greensboro, N.C. Region: Greensboro Coliseum
March 25, 7 p.m. ET: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 5 North Carolina
March 25, 9:30 p.m. ET: No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 10 Creighton
Spokane, Wash. Region: Spokane Arena
March 25, 7 p.m. ET: No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Texas
March 25, 9:30 p.m.: No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 4 Maryland
Wichita, Kans. Region: INTRUST Bank Arena
March 26, 4 p.m. ET: No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 4 Tennessee
March 26, 6:30 p.m. ET: No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 10 South Dakota
Bridgeport, Conn. Region: Total Mortgage Arena
March 26, 11:30 a.m. ET: No. 1 NC State vs. No. 5 Notre Dame
March 26, 2 p.m. ET: No. 3 Indiana vs. No. 2 UConn
