The 64-team NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship field will be exclusively unveiled on ESPN during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special Presented by Capital One on Monday, March 16, at 7 p.m. ET. ESPN’s Final Four studio team of host Kevin Negandhi and veteran analysts Kara Lawson and Rebecca Lobo will be on hand for in-depth analysis, including during ESPNU’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special Extended Coverage Presented by Capital One at 8 p.m.
Interviews and segments will be rolled in throughout both shows including sound from analyst Doris Burke, espnW writer Mechelle Voepel and espnW bracketologist Charlie Creme. The ESPNU show will include an exclusive interview with Dru Hancock, the chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee.
Creative elements will feature the song “Fire and Gold” by Disney recording artist Bea Miller. Sparklers, lanterns and light elements will complement scripts and player sound to tell the stories of the tournament from Selection Show through the National Championship.
Show Highlights
- Bracket insight with analysis of each region and team, plus the players to watch as they vie for a Final Four spot in Tamp.
- Live look-ins SEC Champion South Carolina, Big Ten Champion Maryland and undefeated and Ivy League Champion Princeton, plus photos from Selection Monday watch parties around the nation.
- Live interviews with South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and Maryland’s Brenda Frese during the ESPN hour.
- An exclusive interview with NCAA Chair Hancock on ESPNU.
- Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart, Maryland guard Lexie Brown and South Carolina forward Aleighsa Welch live on the ESPNU telecast.
ESPN to Air All 63 NCAA Championship Games
The Selection Monday specials will tip off ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship March 20-April 7, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, WatchESPN and ESPN FULL COURT. ESPN will also provide additional NCAA Championship content across multiple platforms, including espnW.com, SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and ESPN International.
All 63 games of the 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship will air on ESPN networks for the 10th consecutive year. ESPN and ESPN2 will present regionalized telecasts with home market protection through the first two rounds. ESPN3 and ESPN FULL COURT, the pay-per-view package, will offer first- and second-round games in their entirety as a supplement to ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2. The complete schedule will be revealed following the selection show.
espnW.com
espnW will provide fans with extensive coverage of Selection Monday from its team of analysts and experts. Highlights:
- Columnist Graham Hays answers Five Burning Questions off the newly released bracket, including toughest/easiest region, toughest path for a No. 1 seed and the best place to be for the early-round games.
- Voepel, along with Creme and writer Michelle Smith, also provide in-depth analysis of the bracket.
- espnW’s Tourney Snapshots returns, providing social photos from tourney-bound teams around the country beginning on Selection Monday.
- Expert picks, from predicted Final Four matchups to the best first-round games.
- Video highlights such as overall bracket breakdown and region-by-region analysis.
For the first time, FiveThirtyEight will cover the probabilistic projections for the NCAA Women’s Championship. On Tuesday, March 17, the website will debut an interactive bracket that calculates each team’s chances of advancing through the rounds. In addition to updating the data in the bracket throughout the week, FiveThirtyEight’s sportswriters will deliver a variety of data-driven stories tied to the tournament.
College Basketball Live: NCAA Women’s Special
Hosts Beth Mowins and Cara Capuano, along with analysts Debbie Antonelli, LaChina Robinson and Brooke Weisbrod, will take part in a two-hour ESPNU show: College Basketball Live: NCAA Women’s Special on Tuesday, March 17, at 1 p.m. The program will be highlighted by interviews with some of the top coaches in the nation and in-depth analysis of the bracket.
ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge
The game returns for the 18th season on the digital hard court and will once again be free for entrants to submit up to 10 entries on ESPN.com. Fans complete and submit a bracket of forecasted tournament game outcomes and points are awarded for each correct pick, with point values increasing as the Tournaments progress. In the Women’s Tournament Challenge, entries that finish in the top one percent are entered in a random drawing for a $5,000 Best Buy Gift Card. The Women’s Tournament Challenge will accept registration until just prior to tip-off of the first game on Friday, March 20.
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