NCAA creates more ‘postseason opportunity for women’s basketball’

There will now be 100 postseason NCAA-funded opportunities available for Division I women’s basketball teams.

On Monday the NCAA announced the creation of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament. The postseason tournament will consist of 32 teams and will begin in 2024. The tournament is owned and funded by the NCAA.

Later this summer, “the NCAA will identify a selection committee, comprising women’s basketball stakeholders and NCAA members, to administer the WBIT.”

“Women’s basketball is at an all-time high with records being set for the national championship and Final Four viewership, and the tournament was the most viewed since 2009,” said Jamie Boggs, chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee. “This tournament will create an additional NCAA-funded postseason opportunity for women’s basketball, and it comes at a time when we are seeing tremendous growth in popularity for women’s basketball.”

This event will not replace the WNIT or the March Madness NCAA tournament but rather be supported and funded by the NCAA as an equivalent to the men’s NIT tournament. There will now be 100 postseason NCAA-funded opportunities available for Division I women’s basketball teams. The tournament’s format, including the selection process, bracketing principles, and host sites will be released at a later time.