| Gender: | Women's |
| Year: | 1998 |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Finalfourarena: | Kemper Arena |
| Finalfourcity: | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Champions: | Tennessee Volunteers |
| Titlecount: | 6th |
| Champgamecount: | 8th |
| Champffcount: | 11th |
| Runnerup: | Louisiana Tech Techsters |
| Gamecount: | 6th |
| Runnerffcount: | 9th |
| Semifinal1: | NC State Wolfpack |
| Finalfourcount: | 1st |
| Semifinal2: | Arkansas Razorbacks |
| Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Pat Summitt |
| Coachcount: | 6th |
| Mop: | Chamique Holdsclaw |
| Mopteam: | Tennessee |
The 1998 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 13, 1998, and concluded on March 29, 1998, when Tennessee won the national title. The Final Four was held at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 27–29, 1998. Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, NC State, and Arkansas qualified for the Final Four. Tennessee and Louisiana Tech won their semi-final Final Four matchups and continued on to the championship. Tennessee defeated Louisiana Tech 93–75 to take their sixth title, and complete an undefeated season (39–0).
For the first time in the men's or women's tournament, two teams, Tennessee and Liberty, entered the tournament unbeaten (this feat was replicated in 2014 by the women's teams from Connecticut and Notre Dame). In the Mideast Regional, the Lady Vols blew out Liberty 102–58. However, in the West Regional, the expected 1–16 blowout did not happen. In that matchup, Harvard defeated an injury-plagued #1 seed Stanford on its home court 71–67. This was the first time in the men's or women's tournament that a #16 seed had beaten a #1 seed, a feat that would not be repeated until 2018 in the men's tournament. In addition, 9th-seeded Arkansas made the final four, the highest seed ever to do so in the women's tournament. The ninth-seeded Razorbacks remain the lowest seeded team to ever reach the Final Four in the women's tournament. Only 10th-seeded Oregon in 2017, 10th-seeded Creighton in 2022 and 11th-seeded Gonzaga in 2011 have even reached an Elite Eight to be in position to break this record. In addition, Arkansas remains the only 9 seed to even reach the Elite Eight in the women's tournament. This is the last time that two number 1 seeds failed to make the sweet 16 a feat not repeated until 2023 tournament. This is the last time an ivy league team upset a Pac -12 team in the top 4 seed a feat not repeated until 2023 in the men's tournament.
Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Thirty conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA tournament.
Thirty-four additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.
Thirty conferences earned an automatic bid. In nineteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-four additional at-large teams were selected from eleven of the conferences.
| Bids | Conference | Teams | |
| 6 | Southeastern | Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Vanderbilt | |
| 5 | Atlantic Coast | North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, North Carolina St., Virginia | |
| 5 | Big Ten | Purdue, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin | |
| 5 | Pacific-10 | Stanford, Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, Washington | |
| 5 | Western Athletic | New Mexico, Colorado St., Hawaii, SMU, Utah | |
| 4 | Big 12 | Texas Tech, Iowa St., Kansas, Nebraska | |
| 4 | Big East | Connecticut, Miami, Notre Dame, Rutgers | |
| 4 | Conference USA | Memphis, Louisville, Marquette, Tulane | |
| 3 | Atlantic 10 | Virginia Tech, George Washington, Massachusetts | |
| 2 | Missouri Valley | Drake, Missouri St. | |
| 2 | Sun Belt | Louisiana Tech, Western Ky. | |
| 1 | America East | Maine | |
| 1 | Big Sky | Montana | |
| 1 | Big South | Liberty | |
| 1 | Big West | UC Santa Barb. | |
| 1 | Colonial | Old Dominion | |
| 1 | Horizon | Green Bay | |
| 1 | Ivy | Harvard | |
| 1 | Metro Atlantic | Fairfield | |
| 1 | Mid-American | Kent St. | |
| 1 | Mid-Continent | Youngstown St. | |
| 1 | Mid-Eastern | Howard | |
| 1 | Northeast | St. Francis (PA) | |
| 1 | Ohio Valley | Middle Tenn. | |
| 1 | Patriot | Holy Cross | |
| 1 | Southern | UNC Greensboro | |
| 1 | Southland | Stephen F. Austin | |
| 1 | Southwestern | Grambling | |
| 1 | Trans America | FIU | |
| 1 | West Coast | Santa Clara |
In 1998, the field remained at 64 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1–16 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 1 and 16 faced each other, as well as seeds 2 and 15, seeds 3 and 14, seeds 4 and 13, seeds 5 and 12, seeds 6 and 11, seeds 7 and 10, and seeds 8 and 9. In the first two rounds, the top four seeds were given the opportunity to host the first round game. In all cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity.
The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:
The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 20 to March 23 at these sites:
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held March 27 and March 29 in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Kemper Arena
The sixty-four teams came from thirty-four states, plus Washington, D.C. Four states, California, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina each had the most teams with four bids. Sixteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.
| Bids | State | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | California | Santa Clara, Stanford, UC Santa Barb., UCLA | |
| 4 | North Carolina | North Carolina, UNC Greensboro, Duke, North Carolina St. | |
| 4 | Tennessee | Memphis, Middle Tenn., Tennessee, Vanderbilt | |
| 4 | Virginia | Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia Tech, Virginia | |
| 3 | Florida | FIU, Florida, Miami | |
| 3 | Iowa | Drake, Iowa, Iowa St. | |
| 3 | Louisiana | Grambling, Louisiana Tech, Tulane | |
| 3 | Massachusetts | Harvard, Holy Cross, Massachusetts | |
| 3 | Texas | Stephen F. Austin, Texas Tech, SMU | |
| 3 | Wisconsin | Green Bay, Marquette, Wisconsin | |
| 2 | Connecticut | Connecticut, Fairfield | |
| 2 | District of Columbia | Howard, George Washington | |
| 2 | Indiana | Purdue, Notre Dame | |
| 2 | Kentucky | Louisville, Western Ky. | |
| 2 | Ohio | Kent St., Youngstown St. | |
| 1 | Alabama | Alabama | |
| 1 | Arizona | Arizona | |
| 1 | Arkansas | Arkansas | |
| 1 | Colorado | Colorado St. | |
| 1 | Georgia | Georgia | |
| 1 | Hawaii | Hawaii | |
| 1 | Illinois | Illinois | |
| 1 | Kansas | Kansas | |
| 1 | Maine | Maine | |
| 1 | Michigan | Michigan | |
| 1 | Missouri | Missouri St. | |
| 1 | Montana | Montana | |
| 1 | Nebraska | Nebraska | |
| 1 | New Jersey | Rutgers | |
| 1 | New Mexico | New Mexico | |
| 1 | Pennsylvania | St. Francis | |
| 1 | Oregon | Oregon | |
| 1 | South Carolina | Clemson | |
| 1 | Utah | Utah | |
| 1 | Washington | Washington |
Data source
E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.
Sixteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play:
| Conference |
| Record | Win % | Round of 32 | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship Game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeastern | 6 | .737 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Atlantic Coast | 5 | .706 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | ||
| Big Ten | 5 | .545 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | ||
| Pacific-10 | 5 | .375 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Western Athletic | 5 | .167 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big East | 4 | .636 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | – | ||
| Big 12 | 4 | .556 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Conference USA | 4 | .200 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Atlantic 10 | 3 | .400 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Sun Belt | 2 | .750 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Missouri Valley | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Colonial | 1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Big West | 1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ivy | 1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Mid-Continent | 1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Trans America | 1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – |