Photo: Getty Images
The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee has announced chosen San Antonio to hold another Women's Final Four.
As part of the announcement, the organization announced the five cities selected to host the NCAA Women’s Final Four from 2027 through 2031.
The cities include four past hosts and one new location, with Columbus, Ohio (Nationwide Arena) chosen to host in 2027; Indianapolis (Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in 2028; San Antonio (Alamodome) in 2029; Portland, Oregon (Moda Center) in 2030; and Dallas (American Airlines Center) in 2031.
“The Women’s Final Four is the premier women’s basketball event in the country, and it’s exciting to see the unprecedented amount of interest from cities to host in the future,” said Lisa Peterson, chair of the committee and senior associate commissioner for sports management with the Pac-12 Conference. “The committee appreciates all the cities involved in the highly competitive bid process. When we crown a national champion in the selected cities, our student-athletes, coaches and fans will have enjoyed an amazing championship experience.”
Columbus and Nationwide Arena previously hosted in 2018 in one of the more memorable Women’s Final Fours that featured two overtime national semifinal games for the first time and a national championship game decided on a buzzer beater. Notre Dame captured its second national title when Irish guard Arike Ogunbowale etched her name into Women’s Final Four lore with game-winning shots in both the national semifinals and national championship game.
Indianapolis has hosted the Women’s Final Four three times previously in 2005 (RCA Dome), 2011 and 2016. In 2016, when the event was held at what was then Bankers Life Fieldhouse, now Gainbridge Fieldhouse, UConn (38-0) won its fourth consecutive national championship, a first-time occurrence in Division I women’s basketball. With an 82-51 defeat of Syracuse in the national championship game that year, UConn earned its 11th title, tying the UCLA men’s basketball team’s all-time mark for Division I championships.
San Antonio has previously hosted the Women’s Final Four three times, in 2002, 2010 and 2021. In 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, San Antonio and the surrounding region played host to the entire 63-game NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, which relied on a controlled environment. The Alamodome was the site when Stanford claimed the 2021 title in front of a limited capacity audience but was also the site in 2002 when the all-time Women’s Final Four attendance record was set when 29,619 were at the national semifinal games and the national championship game.
Portland will be hosting the Women’s Final Four for the first time in 2030. It will also mark the first time that the event is conducted in the state of Oregon. Portland and the Moda Center previously hosted NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship regional play in 2019, was set to host in 2020 before the cancellation of the championship and will do so again in 2024.
Dallas, which is already preparing to host the Women’s Final Four and the Division II and III women’s basketball national championship games in 2023 (March 31-April 2), will be hosting for a third time in 2031. In 2017, the American Airlines Center played host to one of the biggest upsets in Women’s Final Four history when Mississippi State ended UConn’s historic 111-game winning streak in the national semifinals. Bulldogs junior guard Morgan William’s jumper at the overtime buzzer gave the Bulldogs a 66-64 win that also ended a 28-game NCAA tournament winning streak by UConn. South Carolina went on to win its first NCAA national championship that season, defeating Mississippi State in the title game.
In addition to Dallas in 2023, the other cities previously chosen to host before 2027 are Cleveland (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, April 5 and 7, 2024); Tampa Bay, Florida (Amalie Arena, April 4 and 6, 2025); and Phoenix (Footprint Center, April 3 and 5, 2026).