WNIT announces 64-team field, bracket to be revealed Monday afternoon
FORT COLLINS, CO – The 24th Postseason WNIT has selected its 64-team field for the 2022 event, pulling in a potent mix of Power 5 notables and ascending mid-majors, all hungry for this national platform to show their strengths and the overall quality of depth within women’s D-I basketball. The 2022 field features 30 automatic qualifiers, which are teams that are the next-highest finishers in their conference’s regular season that were not tabbed for the NCAA Tournament. The other 34 teams are at-large selections, chosen after consideration of a mix of criteria by WNIT officials.
FORT COLLINS, CO – The 24th Postseason WNIT has selected its 64-team field for the 2022 event, pulling in a potent mix of Power 5 notables and ascending mid-majors, all hungry for this national platform to show their strengths and the overall quality of depth within women's D-I basketball.
The 2022 field features 30 automatic qualifiers, which are teams that are the next-highest finishers in their conference's regular season that were not tabbed for the NCAA Tournament. The other 34 teams are at-large selections, chosen after consideration of a mix of criteria by WNIT officials.
Here's the field for the 2022 Postseason WNIT – please note, the field is subject to change pending issues with COVID-19 concerns, as well as any changes going forward from the makeup of the NCAA Tournament bracket:
AQ's (30)
Boston College (19-11), Atlantic Coast
Campbell (23-7), Big South
Columbia (22-6), Ivy
Drexel (26-5), Colonial
Fairleigh Dickinson (19-11), Northeast
Grand Canyon (22-9), Western Athletic
Holy Cross (20-10), Patriot
Houston Baptist (16-10), Southland
Idaho State (19-11), Big Sky
Jacksonville State (24-7), Atlantic Sun
Louisiana Tech (21-11), Conference USA
Maine (20-11), America East
Marquette (21-10), Big East
Missouri (18-12), Southeastern
New Mexico (24-9), Mountain West
Norfolk State (17-11), Mid-Eastern Athletic
Quinnipiac (20-11), Metro Atlantic Athletic
Rhode Island (22-6), Atlantic 10
San Francisco (16-11), West Coast
South Dakota State (23-9), Summit
Southern Illinois (21-9), Missouri Valley
Tennessee Tech (20-10), Ohio Valley
Toledo (26-5), Mid-American
Troy (24-8), Sun Belt
Tulane (20-9), American
UC Irvine (21-11), Big West
UCLA (14-12), Pac-12
West Virginia (15-15), Big 12
Wofford (17-13), Southern
Youngstown State (24-6), Horizon
At Large (34)
Akron (17-11), Mid-American
Air Force (18-13), Mountain West
Alabama (17-13), Southeastern
Ball State (20-12), Mid-American
Bucknell (23-9), Patriot
Cal Baptist (23-8), Western Athletic
Colorado State (21-11), Mountain West
Drake (18-13), Missouri Valley
Fordham (18-10), Atlantic 10
Green Bay (19-7), Horizon
Houston (16-15), American
Kent State (18-11), Mid-American
Kansas City (23-8), Summit
Liberty (27-4), Atlantic Sun
Long Beach State (19-8), Big West
Middle Tennessee (23-7), Conference USA
Minnesota (14-17), Big Ten
Murray State (22-9), Ohio Valley
Northern Iowa (22-10), Missouri Valley
North Texas (17-12), Conference USA
Ohio (15-14), Mid-American
Old Dominion (23-9). Conference USA
Oregon State (14-13), Pac-12
Portland (19-10), West Coast
Purdue (16-14), Big Ten
San Diego (16-14), West Coast
Seton Hall (19-12), Big East
SMU (14-14), American
Stony Brook (23-5), American East
Towson (24-7), Colonial
Tulsa (16-10), American
Vanderbilt (14-18), Southeastern
VCU (15-11), Atlantic 10
Wyoming (15-12), Mountain West
There are 32 team that won at least 20 games and 13 teams that either won or tied for first place in their conference's regular-season slate – Campbell, Drexel, Fairleigh Dickinson, Holy Cross, Idaho State, Louisiana Tech, Maine, Norfolk State, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Toledo, Troy and Youngstown State.
Teams from the same conference will not meet in the first round, nor the second round if possible. Matchups against 2021-22 regular-season opponents are also avoided as much as possible.
Here's the schedule for the 2022 event:
Bracket released with matchups, Round 1 game times - Monday, March 14 by 2 p.m. ET.
Round 1 - March 16-18
Round 2 - March 19-22
Round 3 - March 23-26
Quarterfinals - March 26-28
Semifinals - March 30-31
Championship - Saturday, April 2 (broadcast by CBS Sports Network)
"We are thrilled to welcome each of these 64 programs to the Postseason WNIT, as they've all had to confront pandemic challenges while continuing to put in work in the classroom and on the court in representing their schools," said WNIT event director Jared Rudiger. "But through it all the level of basketball skill just keeps escalating, and that should make the WNIT an exciting showcase as teams dig deep for a memorable championship run."
Follow the 2022 Postseason WNIT:
Twitter: @WomensNIT
Facebook: /womensNIT
Hashtag: #WNIT
About Triple Crown Sports
Based in Fort Collins, CO., Triple Crown Sports has been producing youth, high school and college events for 40 years. TCS runs both the preseason and postseason WNIT basketball events and produces the men's and women's DI Cancun Challenge tournaments in November. Triple Crown is also powering "WNIT" concept events in D-I softball (NISC) and volleyball (NIVC), with those two events debuting in 2017. Triple Crown's PV College Challenge features 8-10 of the top DI college softball teams in the country each year in Puerto Vallarta, MX. TC fastpitch tournaments (including the 1,000-team Sparkler/Fireworks event) draw the nation's finest club programs, and hundreds of college coaches attend TCS events for recruiting purposes. TCS produces one of the largest youth baseball events in the world with the 650-team Omaha SlumpBuster during the College World Series. The Triple Crown Volleyball NIT has become the top-recruited club volleyball event in the country each February when 550 teams compete in Kansas City, MO.
