- Interview with Terry Gawlik, Chair of NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee
- Live Look-ins and Coaches Interviews as Teams are Revealed
ESPN will exclusively reveal the 64-team field for the 2017 NCAA Division I Women’s College Basketball Championship during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special Presented by Capital One on Monday, March 13. The two-hour special will begin at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, and move to ESPNU at 8 p.m. for further discussion and analysis.
Host Maria Taylor will be joined by analysts Andy Landers, Kara Lawson and Rebecca Lobo, as well as women’s bracketologist and espnW reporter Charlie Creme via satellite, as they reveal the 64 teams that will compete for the chance to become national champions. Both Taylor and Landers will be joining the show for the first time.
Interviews and live look-ins will occur throughout the special, including Terry Gawlik, Chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee in the 7 p.m. hour.
This year’s special will kick off ESPN’s Tournament Challenge Marathon, bringing 24-consecutive hours of coverage and analysis as fans prepare their brackets via the ESPN Tournament Challenge App for the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments.
Selection Special Highlights
- Bracket analysis with focus on each region, as well as players to watch throughout the championship
- Live reactions, video and photos from Selection Monday watch parties around the nation
- Interviews expected with head coaches Jennie Baranczynk (Drake), Brenda Frese (Maryland) and Vic Schaefer (Mississippi State)
- Highlights from conference tournament winners: Marquette (BIG EAST), Stanford (Pac-12), West Virginia (Big 12) and Western Illinois (Missouri Valley)
- Cartoon-style feature on the Washington Huskies
- Four finalists of the HandClap Hoopla Challenge will be unveiled; fans can vote for their favorite on espnW
Tournament Coverage
ESPN will once again be the home of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One, beginning with the first round on Friday, March 17. Coverage will continue through the second round and regional finals, culminating with the Women’s Final Four from American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of ESPN’s coverage of the women’s championship.
ESPN and ESPN2 will present regionalized telecasts with home market protection through the first two rounds. ESPN3 and ESPN College Extra will offer first- and second-round games in their entirety as a supplement to ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2.
espnW
espnW will provide content and analysis throughout the entire championship, beginning with Selection Monday. In addition, Mechelle Voepel and Graham Hays will be on site for every round.
Selection Monday content includes:
- Charlie Creme will finalize his bracket after the last conference tournament games are played Sunday, March 12
- Heading into the Selection Special, Creme will also examine the five biggest questions heading into the show
- Following the bracket announcement, espnW will continue to analyze the 64-team field from every viewpoint:
- Expert picks, including toughest regional and Final Four favorites
- Mechelle Voepel will examine UConn’s path to Dallas and what might lie ahead for the Huskies and their 107-game winning streak
- Charlie Creme will look at the bracket and give his take on what the biggest surprises were, and who got snubbed
- Graham Hays’ Five Observations: Where the best games will be played and the five players fans need to watch before their teams are out
- Unveiling of the four finalists in the HandClap Hoopla Challenge; fans can vote on who they think should be the winning team on an espnW Twitter poll
SEC Network
SEC Now will air for one hour on Monday at 9 p.m. to examine the women’s NCAA selections, as well as continue the men’s NCAA and NIT discussion.
FiveThirtyEight will once again feature a live interactive bracket calculating the probabilistic projections for the NCAA Women’s Championship. In addition, the site will have a UConn Perfection Tracker, previewing each of the team’s games as they push towards a perfect record and a fifth-straight championship.
Tournament Challenge
ESPN’s Tournament Challenge game returns for its 20th season and will again be free for entrants to submit up to 25 entries each for the Men’s and Women’s tournament at ESPN.com/bracket or the ESPN Tournament Challenge App for iOS and Android. New features in the ESPN TC App include the ability to pre-fill brackets before selection Sunday, Group enhancements to make play with friends and family easier, an all-new News tab, advanced Bracketcast design and functionality, better ESPN Insider integrations, and improved push notifications for up-to-the-second bracket, news and video updates.
In the Women’s Tournament Challenge, entries finishing in the top 1 percent will be entered in a random drawing for a $3,000 Amazon Gift Card. The Women’s Tournament Challenge will accept registration until just prior to tip-off of the first game on Friday, March 17.
When fans log in to fill out their brackets and throughout the tournaments, they will have the ability to donate to the V Foundation and enter for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to the 2017 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, which fields top-caliber matchups, pitting UConn versus Syracuse and Gonzaga against Villanova, in a doubleheader on December 5. The prize package includes two tickets, airfare, accommodations, a signed basketball from all four coaches, and a $400 gift card. To enter the sweepstakes, visit: www.v.org/win. No donation is necessary to win.
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