The Minnesota Golden Gophers women’s basketball team and their fans got great news on Saturday afternoon. Inbetween games of the SEC men’s Semifinals, ESPN and the The Division I Women’s Basketball Committee announced the NCAA top 16 teams who will host First and Second Round games in the NCAA Tournament next weekend. The Gophers were named one of those 16 and will get to play on their home court in front of their home fans for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament! Minnesota finished the season
with a 22-8 record and was 13-3 at Williams Arena.
The Golden Gophers are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. The 2026 NCAA Tournament will mark the return of NCAA action to Williams Arena for the first time in 21 seasons. Minnesota last hosted a NCAA Tournament game in 2005, when the Gophers hosted the First and Second rounds before advancing to the Sweet 16.
The full Field of 68 teams will be announced at 7 PM Sunday night on ESPN. The Gophers will find out their first round opponent—likely a #13 seed and what #5/#12 matchup will also be taking place in Minneapolis. Games will take place either Friday/Sunday or Saturday/ Monday. After the first two rounds, NCAA Regionals will be played in Fort Worth, Texas and Sacramento, Calif. March 27-30. The Final Four is April 3-5 in Phoenix, Ariz.
The Top 16 teams who will host listed in alphabetical order are:
Duke
Iowa
Louisville
LSU
Michigan
Minnesota
North Carolina
Ohio State
Oklahoma
South Carolina
TCU
Texas
UCLA
UConn
Vanderbilt
West Virginia
NCAA Tickets are available to Gopher Women’s basketball season ticket holders right now. Gopher Score members will be able to buy tickets once Minnesota’s bracket is announced Sunday night with a public on-sale time set for 10 AM Monday morning HERE. All games will air on the ESPN family of networks.
