2024 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament Explained

Type:WBIT
Gender:Women's
Year:2024
Teams:32
Finalfourarena:Hinkle Fieldhouse
Finalfourcity:Indianapolis, Indiana
Champions:Illinois
Titlecount:1st
Runnerup:Villanova
Coach:Shauna Green
Coachcount:1st
Mop:Makira Cook
Mopteam:Illinois

The 2024 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I women's college basketball teams not selected to participate in the 2024 NCAA tournament. The tournament began on March 21 and ended on April 3. The first three rounds were played on campuses, with the semifinal and championship final played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.[1] It was the inaugural edition of the postseason Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. Illinois won the tournament, marking the program's first-ever postseason tournament championship.[2]

Participants

Teams and pairings for the 2024 WBIT were released by the WBIT Committee on Sunday, March 17, 2024. Thirty–two teams qualified for the WBIT, including both automatic qualifiers and at-large selections.

Automatic qualifiers

The regular-season champion of any NCAA Division I conference (as determined by the conference's tiebreaking protocol) not otherwise selected for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship will, if eligible, secure an automatic qualification invitation to the WBIT. Like the Division I tournament committee, the WBIT Selection Committee will use a variety of resources to determine the participating teams.[3]

TeamConferencedata-sort-type="number"Overall record
HawaiiBig West20–10
LamarSouthland24–6
TulsaAmerican23–9
High PointBig South20–11
Stony BrookCAA27–4
Cleveland StateHorizon 29–5
ToledoMAC26–5

At-large bids

The following teams were awarded at-large bids.

TeamConferencedata-sort-type="number"Overall record
George MasonAtlantic 1023–7
VCUAtlantic 1026–5
Saint Joseph'sAtlantic 1026–5
Georgia TechACC17–15
VirginiaACC15–15
North TexasAmerican23–8
TCUBig 1220–11
BYUBig 1216–16
St. John'sBig East17–14
VillanovaBig East18–12
GeorgetownBig East22–11
Seton HallBig East17–14
Penn StateBig Ten 19–12
IllinoisBig Ten14–15
Ball StateMAC28–5
BelmontMVC25–8
Missouri StateMVC23–9
CaliforniaPac-1218–14
Washington StatePac-1218–14
WashingtonPac-1216–14
Mississippi StateSEC21–11
ArkansasSEC18–14
FloridaSEC16–15
James MadisonSun Belt23–11
Santa ClaraWCC24–8

Declined bids

Miami (FL) declined to play in the 2024 WBIT.

Bracket

* Denotes overtime period

Media

ESPN Inc. had exclusive rights to all WBIT games. It telecast every game across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN+. Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the semifinals and the championship.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Event Information. ncaa.com. March 10, 2024. March 20, 2024.
  2. News: Makira Cook’s strong 2nd half leads Illinois past Villanova 71-57 for inaugural WBIT championship . Associated Press . April 3, 2024 . April 3, 2024.
  3. Web site: ESPN networks to televise inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. ncaa.com. September 26, 2023. March 20, 2024.