March Madness History: Women’s Basketball Championship List

I have spent the better part of the last two weeks trying to research and dispense as much information as possible about this year’s NCAA Tournament and conference tournaments, as well as the history of the NCAA Tournament, both on the men’s and women’s side.

Yesterday, I posted about the history of the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament MOP award, and a few days ago we looked at the history of every Final Four on the men’s side. (Links below for these posts.)

Today, we jump back over to women’s college basketball to take a brief glance at the history of their tournament.

Before we delve into the table and then discuss, here is your menu of links for our March Madness History series:

• 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament History: Past Champions, Final Four participants, Final Four locations by year, and interesting tournament tidbits
• NCAA Champions – Mens Basketball: All-time list of mens basketball NCAA Tournament champions, ordered from most won to least.
• NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament MOPs: All-Time List
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Tickets
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Tickets

Now, let’s take a look at the history of the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, which began in 1982 and has seemed to grow in popularity with each year.

As you look at this list, one thing will become clear: Tennessee and UConn have dominated the women’s side of college basketball like no team on the men’s side since UCLA. Neither one has come close to UCLA’s standard of consistent domination and excellence in the 60s and 70s, but Tennessee and UConn are the undisputed #1 and #2 heavyweights of women’s college basketball.

Womens Basketball Championship List: NCAA Championships by Year

Year	Women's Basketball Champion	Score	Women's Basketball Runner-up	Site
1982	Louisiana Tech	76-62	Cheyney State	Norfolk, VA
1983	USC	69-67	Louisiana Tech	Norfolk, VA
1984	USC	72-61	Tennessee	Los Angeles, CA
1985	Old Dominion	70-65	Georgia	Austin, TX
1986	Texas	97-81	USC	Lexington, KY
1987	Tennessee	67-44	Louisiana Tech	Austin, TX
1988	Louisiana Tech	56-54	Auburn	Tacoma, WA
1989	Tennessee	76-70	Auburn	Tacoma, WA
1990	Stanford	88-81	Auburn	Knoxville, TN
1991	Tennessee	70-67*	Virginia	New Orleans, LA
1992	Stanford	78-62	Western Kentucky	Los Angeles, CA
1993	Texas Tech	84-82	Ohio State	Atlanta, GA
1994	North Carolina	60-59	Louisiana Tech	Richmond, VA
1995	UConn	70-64	Tennessee	Minneapolis, MN
1996	Tennessee	83-65	Georgia	Charlotte, NC
1997	Tennessee	68-59	Old Dominion	Cincinnati, OH
1998	Tennessee	93-75	Louisiana Tech	Kansas City, MO
1999	Purdue	62-45	Duke	San Jose, CA
2000	UConn	71-52	Tennessee	Philadelphia, PA
2001	Notre Dame	68-66	Purdue	St. Louis, MO
2002	UConn	82-70	Oklahoma	San Antonio, TX
2003	UConn	73-68	Tennessee	Atlanta, GA
2004	UConn	70-61	Tennessee	New Orleans, LA
2005	Baylor	84-62	Michigan State	Indianapolis, IN
2006	Maryland	78-75*	Duke	Boston, MA
2007	Tennessee	59-46	Rutgers	Cleveland, OH
2008	Tennessee	64-48	Stanford	Tampa, FL
2009	UConn	76-54	Louisville	St. Louis, MO
2010				San Antonio, TX
2011				Indianapolis, IN
	* - Overtime

And just so you don’t have to do it for yourself, here is a quick breakdown of women’s basketball championships by team from most to least:

• Tennessee – 8
• UConn -6
• Louisiana Tech, USC, Stanford – 2
• Old Dominion, Baylor, Maryland, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas Tech, North Carolina, Purdue – 1

Tennessee and UConn have combined for 14 NCAA women’s basketball championships since 1987. That is ridiculous. By comparison, the top combined total for any two men’s programs since 1987 is five. Duke has won three NCAA titles since 1987, while UConn, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky have all won two.

For even more evidence of Tennessee’s dominance, consider the number of Final Fours they have reached: 18. That means that Tennessee has reached the Women’s Final Four 69% of the time. That is just a preposterous number, and proves the greatness of Pat Summit. Louisiana Tech has made 10 Final Fours, UConn has made 9, and Stanford has made 7.

According to the source for this article, the NCAA Women’s Basketball page on Wikipedia, a major breakthrough for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game occurred in 2003 when the championship game was moved to the Tuesday after the men’s title game. This makes the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship the last game of the college basketball season.

The growth of teams in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament has grown as follows:

• 1982-1985: 32 teams
• 1986-1988: 40 teams
• 1989-1993: 48 teams
• 1994-present: 64 teams

The women’s tournament has also gone through a variety of different seeding processes, most based on regional seeding to keep all teams as close to their home base as possible. Since 1996 though, the seeding process has become very similar to the men’s tournament.

I will be the first to admit that I do not follow women’s college basketball during the regular season. Between the end of football season, my passion for IU and Big Ten men’s basketball, and the beginning of Spring Training, there just is not enough time to follow women’s basketball too. But I do fill out brackets and watch the Women’s Basketball Tournament. And two rules of thumb that I will continue to follow this year: pick Tennessee or UConn to win, and pick Tennessee to make the Final Four.

By doing so, you definitely put the odds in your favor.

Tags: march madness, Pat Summit, Tennessee Lady Vols, women's college basketball

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