• The four No. 1 seeds advance to the final weekend of play: UConn, UCLA, Texas, South Carolina
• Championship Sunday set for ABC – April 5, 3:30 p.m. ET
• Nearly a dozen ESPN networks present wall-to-wall coverage
• Introducing Courtside at the Women’s Final Four Presented by AT&T – ESPN’s new alt-cast featuring Jess Sims, Ilona Maher, Natisha Hiedeman, Courtney Williams, Chelsea Gray and Katie Feeney

ESPN’s exclusive presentation of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Capital One heads out west to Phoenix as premier coverage of the NCAA Women’s Final Four presented by AT&T is live from Mortgage Matchup Center, April 3 and 5. Fans can tune in to watch the four No. 1 seeds – UConn, UCLA, Texas, South Carolina – take the court as a champion is set to be crowned.

Championship weekend will feature ESPN’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One along with signature MegaCast presentations across multiple networks, with all televised offerings also available on the ESPN App with an applicable subscription.

Semifinal action begins on ESPN on Friday, April 3, at 7 p.m. ET, when No. 1 South Carolina and No. 1 UConn go head-to-head. The second of the two semifinals, featuring No. 1 Texas vs. No. 1 UCLA, is slated for 9:30 p.m. The winners of each contest will meet in the finale on Sunday, April 5, at 3:30 p.m. ET, as a national champion will be crowned on ABC for the fourth straight year.

ESPN’s lead commentator team will be on the call throughout the Final Four, featuring notable play-by-play voice Ryan Ruocco, Hall of Fame analyst Rebecca Lobo and Sports Emmy and Curt Gowdy Award-winning reporter Holly Rowe. This marks the sixth Women’s Final Four for the trio. Additionally, rules analyst Dee Kantner continues her role within the game coverage, bringing her 25+ years of Final Four experience as a former referee.

SportsCenter anchor and women’s College GameDay host Christine Williamson will lead ESPN’s studio coverage, joined by GameDay analysts Andraya Carter and Chiney Ogwumike. The NCAA Women’s Final Four Special Presented by Capital One tips off at 6 p.m. on Friday on ESPN, breaking down the storylines and previewing the semifinal matchups. The NCAA Women’s Championship Special Presented by Capital One will precede the championship for a full hour on ABC Sunday at 2:30 p.m. 

Saturday’s open practices for the two advancing teams are slated to air on ESPN2, beginning at 4 p.m. ET. Kelsey Riggs Cuff, Carolyn Peck and Muffet McGraw will bring fans all the on-site action during the two practices as the teams prepare for the NCAA finale on Sunday.

Watch on Every Screen
ESPN’s unparalleled production of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship will utilize multiple networks as part of its signature MegaCast presentation across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and the ESPN App.

ESPN’s brand-new alternate cast, Courtside at the Women’s Final Four Presented by AT&T, makes its debut in Phoenix, featuring Jess Sims, Olympic bronze medalist Ilona Maher, WNBA stars ‘The Studbudz’ Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams, WNBA MVP Chelsea Gray and ESPN content creator Katie Feeney. The alt-cast brings fans directly into the action as the crew sits courtside, playing off the electric energy of the games, crowd and more. The show will be available on ESPN2 for the semifinal games, then will air on ESPN for Sunday’s championship.

Additionally, for the second time the three games will be available in 4K/HDR.

Technology Tips Off
In-depth look at ESPN’s camera complement in Phoenix, featuring a variety of specialty cameras:

• Over 50 cameras across game, studio and alt-cast including:
  • Railcam
  • (2) Supracam systems, 1 inside the venue and the other outside highlighting the fan entrance
  • Sony FX6 SDF camera
  • (2) Sony 4800 cameras with Fuji 25mm – 1000mm lens and Fuji 24mm – 300mm lens
  • Sony F5500 camera with Fuji 14mm – 100mm lens
  • (3) Jibs – one mini jib at the host set courtside, one jib with virtual graphics on a concourse platform, and one jib in the pavilion set at the entrance to the Mortage Matchup center
  • (13) Fletcher Robotic Cameras – ATRs, Ref proton, 2 hallway panos, 2 bench ISO protons, 2 stanchion nucleus cameras,  and (1) stanchion robo, and (3) Fletcher protons, for the ALT cast set
  • One Steadicam shared by studio and game
  • 7 Marshalls
• 36 cameras dedicate to game

Additional Tech Tidbits:

• Gamecreek’s Flagship Fleet for game and Nitro Fleet for Studio and Alt-Cast

• GCV Edit 1 and Flagship office on-site
• A robust edit operation with Thumbwar for file transfer and edit
• 25 transmission paths, 8 return paths
• 100+ microphones deployed across 3 shows
• 9 12CH XT-VIA Servers + (1) 6CH XS-VIA Spotbox
• Saunders UPS generators to power entire compound

ESPN.com
Writers Andrea Adelson, Kareem Copeland, Charlie Creme, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel will be on site in Phoenix. Coverage highlights include:

• Live analysis, news coverage, social posts, game recaps and highlights from Phoenix
• Expert picks and predictions for the national semifinals and NCAA title game
• Analysis of the Final Four’s biggest storylines, each matchup and how each team can win the championship
• The top 15 players in the NCAA Women’s Final Four
• Continued updates of our offseason tracker for every eliminated team
• Immediately following the national title game, ESPN.com’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings for the 2025-26 season will be published

SEC Network Coverage
SEC Network will provide comprehensive on-site coverage of the top-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas Longhorns in their quests for the national title. Alyssa Lang and analysts Nell Fortner and Mike Neighbors will share insight and analysis from the Final Four, beginning with SEC Now coverage from press conferences on Thursday.

The trio returns pre-game Friday with live updates in The Paul Finebaum Show ahead of the national semifinals and they will recap the Gamecocks’/Longhorns’ performance in the Women’s Final Four on the late-night SEC Now. Should an SEC team advance to the Championship game, SEC Network will have continued coverage from Lang, Fortner and Neighbors through the weekend. The crew will provide practice updates on SEC Now Saturday night, as well as post-game Championship Sunday programming during the 6 p.m. SEC Now.

Digital Coverage
Countdown to the Semifinals & Countdown to the Final
ESPN continues its expanded digital coverage with its social and digital show, Countdown to the Women’s Final Four and Countdown to the Women’s Championship, both presented by Wendy’s. Hosted by Courtney Cronin, alongside Ari Chambers and Monica McNutt, the pregame show will be available on ESPN’s YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

The trio will also pair up for The Wrap-Up Presented by AT&T, available on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App immediately following the Texas vs. UCLA game on Friday night and immediately after the conclusion of the Championship on Sunday.

Megastars on a Megastage
ESPN’s 2026 marketing campaign positions the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship as a blockbuster premiere event that it is. A showcase of the sport’s biggest stars and legends in the making, arriving at the ultimate stage where everything is on the line.

Set to the iconic Fugees track, “Ready or Not”, the campaign features the unmistakable voice of 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee Lauryn Hill and introduces a mega-theater-arena that brings together star athletes and cinematic footage in an immersive spectacle.

The environment was crafted through cinematic CGI and visual effects, seamlessly blending live action moments with designed environments to create a singular March Madness stage cementing the tournament as a definitive, must-watch event built for the biggest spotlight of the season.

Tourney Town
ESPN is Always in Season with its year-round coverage of NCAA Championships. Celebrate a few of the upcoming NCAA Championships at ESPN’s activation in Tourney Town. The journey begins with themed locker rooms where fans can feel like athletes before exploring championship training zones and interactive photo stations. Fans can also create their own customizable ESPN bandanas with on-site chainstitching options. Tourney Town is open April 2–5 at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Beyond the Baseline
The upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 “The Brittney Griner Story” is set to be highlighted at the NCAA’s Beyond the Baseline event in Tourney Town on Saturday, April 4, at 11 a.m. MST-AZ.

Join one of basketball’s most dominant and influential players, Brittney Griner, for a conversation with ESPN’s Monica McNutt. A WNBA champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist, Griner remains one of the defining figures in the evolution of women’s basketball. She will reflect on her remarkable journey, from leading Baylor to a perfect 40–0 season and the 2012 NCAA National Championship, to becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, while also touching on her experience sharing her story in ESPN’s upcoming 30 for 30 “The Brittney Griner Story”.

All Beyond the Baseline events are free and open to the public.

Breaking Glass: The Pat Summitt Story
Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach, Pat Summitt, is the subject of a new documentary “Breaking Glass: The Pat Summitt Story” from award-winning director Dawn Porter (director, “Sing Sing Chronicles”; winner of the 2025 Emmy® Award for Best Documentary) and “Good Morning America” co-anchor and executive producer Robin Roberts. The film is built on never-before-seen archival footage and profiles the extraordinary women’s college basketball coach who forever changed the game, and includes fellow coaches, players, family and friends who knew her best, as well as rare interviews with Summitt herself, along with Billie Jean King, Peyton Manning, Dawn Staley, Tamika Catchings and more. “Breaking Glass: The Pat Summit Story” premieres on ESPN at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 5, leading into national championship coverage.

NCAA Division I Women’s Final Four MegaCast Schedule
Games available across ESPN networks, digital platforms and via the ESPN App