Tag: Hampton

HBCU March Madness Women’s NCAA Championship History

A look at how HBCU’s performed in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

The first Division 1 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship tournament took place in 1982. The matchup was between Louisiana Tech, who ended being crowned champion, and Cheyney State. This first-ever matchup set another record, that is still held today. Cheyney State was and remains, the only HBCU to make it to the championship game and to the Final Four. Cheyney State made it back to the tournament and won one game in 1983 and three games to advance to the Final Four in 1984.

Howard University and Jackson State also appeared in the 1982 tournament, but only Cheyney State made it to the last dance. Since then, there have been 19 HBCU women’s basketball programs that have played in the March Madness bracket. Hampton as the most appearances in the tournament for an HBCU with 9 appearances, but have yet to win a game.

Appearances HBCU
9 Hampton
6 Grambling State
6 Howard
6 Jackson State
6 Prairie View A&M
5 North Carolina A&T
5 Southern
3 Alabama State
3 Alcorn State
3 Cheyney
3 Coppin State
3 Tennessee State
2 Florida A&M
1 Bethune-Cookman
1 Delaware State
1 Norfolk State
1 Savannah State
1 South Carolina State
1 Texas Southern

Howard is the only HBCU to win a tournament game since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1994. The Bison won their game in the inaugural First Four game of the 2022 tournament, defeating Incarnate Word 55-51.

The first four games of the 2023 March Madness Women’s tournament start Wednesday and Thursday, Mar. 15-16. This will be the 42nd women’s tournament in NCAA history.

This year, there are a few HBCUs in the tournament with Southern University being in a First Four game.

In the second round Norfolk State, an HBCU, battles against South Carolina at 2 p.m. on ESPN.

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Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 11 Seed – 2017-18 Irish

Notre Dame had reason to believe the 2017-18 season would build on the success of the recent past.

Notre Dame had reason to believe the 2017-18 season would build on the success of the recent past, which included six NCAA tournaments in the previous seven years. It was ranked 14th in the preseason poll, and in the early part of the schedule, it upset No. 6 Wichita State to win the Maui Invitational. Ultimately, the Irish went 10-3 in nonconference play, ascending their ranking to as high as fifth.

The Irish won their first three ACC games, but by the time conference play had begun, they were out of the rankings, perhaps as an omen of things to come. After that 3-0 start to ACC play, they lost seven straight, and the wins that followed ultimately were too little, too late. In spite of this, they remained a bubble team for the NCAA tournament until the end, and it earned them a top seed in the NIT. After defeating Hampton in the first round, they lost to Penn State in the second to finish 21-15.

Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell were the senior leaders for this group. Colson averaged a double-double of 19.7 points and 10.1 rebounds a game, while Farrell ended up with 16.3 points and a team-high 5.5 assists a game. T.J. Gibbs and Martinas Geben rounded out the top scorers with respective scoring averages of 15.3 and 11.1.