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Selection Sunday has come and gone and the bracket for the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament has been set! For the first time, the field has been expanded to 68 teams. Four play-in games were added to accommodate the four extra teams, just as the men’s bracket has had since 2011.
The action gets started on Wednesday, March 16th, and in a battle for a No. 16 seed, Incarnate Word takes on Howard. Once that finishes, Dayton and DePaul will play for a spot in the field of 64 as a No. 11 seed.
Incarnate Word moved from D2 to D1 and became eligible for post-season play in 2018. They will be making their first NCAA tournament in program history, and this will be the first tournament appearance for Howard since 2001.
This is Dayton’s first year back since 2018 when they had made the tournament eight years in a row, while DePaul under legendary coach Doug Bruno made the NCAA’s every year from 2003 to 2019, but has missed out on the last two tournaments.
Here is the schedule for the first day of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, with all odds from DraftKings Sportsbook:
March Madness TV schedule: Wednesday, March 16
No. 16 Incarnate Word vs. No. 16 Howard: 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Spread: Howard -8
Total: 120.5
No. 11 Dayton vs. No. 11 DePaul: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Spread: DePaul -2.5
Total: 153.5