Women’s Bracketology: All eyes on Ivy, CUSA as final bids up for grabs

Women’s Bracketology: 2024 NCAA tournamentBy Charlie Creme Updated: 3/15/2024 at 10:30 p.m. ET

Selection Sunday is quickly approaching. The last of the conference tournaments are finishing up and the final automatic bids are being secured. Updated projections on the field of 68 will continue into Sunday, when the last of the games before the NCAA tournament is selected are played. The First Four will be played Wednesday and Thursday, with the first round tipping off March 22. Albany, New York, and Portland, Oregon, will host the regionals, as the two-site format remains for a second consecutive year. It all culminates in Cleveland at the Final Four on April 5 and 7.

Bracket WatchFriday was another good day for the bubble teams. Princeton and Middle Tennessee — the two teams Arizona, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Marquette need to win — did just that, keeping the Ivy League and Conference USA one-bid leagues alive for another day. The Tigers and Blue Raiders have advanced to their respective finals. If either lose in their conference championship games, those become two-bid leagues and an available at-large bid disappears. Most eyes will be on the Ivy final, where Columbia has already beaten Princeton once this season and is playing the title game on its home floor. The fans in the stands will all be pulling for the Lions. The bubble teams will not.

On the Bubble68-Team BracketAlbany 1ColumbiaBlacksburgCorvallisColumbusPortland 4 Los AngelesBloomingtonRaleighAustinAlbany 2Iowa CityBoulderSouth BendLos AngelesPortland 3StanfordSpokaneStorrsBaton RougeConference BreakdownPhoto illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock