INDIANAPOLIS---The 64-team field competing for the 2004 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship was announced today by the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee.
Tennessee (26-3) tops the bracket as the overall No. 1 seed after winning its seventh consecutive regular-season Southeastern Conference title. Duke (27-3), Penn State (25-5) and Texas (28-4) round out the remaining No. 1 seeds.
Thirty-one conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2004 championship, and the remaining 33 teams were selected at-large. The Big East Conference placed the most teams in the championship bracket with eight, followed by the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference with seven each.
First- and second- round games will be played at 16 sites Saturday, March 20 and Monday, March 22 and Sunday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 23. The 16, second-round winners will advance to the four regional sites. The East Regional (Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Conn.) and the West Regional (Bank of America Arena, Seattle) will be Saturday, March 27 and Monday, March 29, while the Mideast Regional (Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Va.) and the Midwest Regional (Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Okla.) will be Sunday, March 28 and Tuesday, March 30. The four regional winners will meet in the NCAA Women's Final Four, April 4 and 6, at the New Orleans Arena (18,211) in New Orleans.
Louisiana Tech and Tennessee continued their appearance streaks as both have participated in all 23 Division I Women's Basketball Championships. Conversely, five teams are making their first trip to the tournament this year: Colgate, Eastern Michigan, Lipscomb, Loyola Marymount and Marist.
In the 22-year history of the Division I Women's Basketball Championship, 11 schools have captured the national title, with Tennessee leading the way with six and Connecticut with four. Last year, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Connecticut captured its second straight national championship and third in four years with a 73-68 victory over Tennessee in front of a crowd of 28,210.
