2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season
2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season | |
---|---|
Preseason AP No. 1 | TBD |
Regular season | November 4, 2024 – March 16, 2025 |
NCAA Tournament | 2025 |
Tournament dates | March 19 – April 6, 2025 |
National Championship | Amalie Arena Tampa, Florida |
The 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season will begin on November 4, 2024. The regular season will end on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament beginning with the first four on March 19 and ending with championship game at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on April 6.
Rule changes
[edit]TBD
Season headlines
[edit]- May 29, 2024 – Stephen F. Austin announced it would leave the Western Athletic Conference on July 1 to rejoin the Southland Conference after a three-year absence.[1]
- July 1 – IUPUI's athletic teams will rename to Indiana University Indianapolis (IU Indy) after the Indiana and Purdue university systems split the university into IU Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis.[2]
- September 12 – The Pac-12 Conference, which had been reduced to 2 members after its remaining 10 schools left for other power conferences, began a rebuilding process by announcing that Mountain West Conference members Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State would join the Pac-12 in 2026–27.[3]
- September 24 – The Pac-12 Conference's rebuilding continued as Utah State would join the other Mountain West defectors in 2026–27.[4]
- September 30 – Gonzaga announced it would leave the West Coast Conference to join the Pac-12 Conference for all sports except for football in 2026–27.[5]
- October 1 – UTEP announced it would join the Mountain West from Conference USA in 2026–27.[6]
Milestones and records
[edit]TBD
Conference membership changes
[edit]A total of 23 schools joined new conferences for the 2024–25 season. Of these, 20 moved within Division I, two began reclassification from NCAA Division II, and Chicago State ended its two-year stint as an all-sports independent to join the Northeast Conference.
The 2024–25 will be the last season in their respective conferences for five Division I schools.
School | 2024–25 conference | Future conference |
---|---|---|
Delaware | CAA | CUSA |
UMass | Atlantic 10 | MAC |
Missouri State | Missouri Valley | CUSA |
Grand Canyon | WAC | WCC |
Seattle | WAC | WCC |
Arenas
[edit]New arenas
[edit]- Georgia Southern will leave the Hanner Fieldhouse after 55 seasons there for the new Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center. The team will play its first game in the Hill Convocation Center in November 2024.[7]
- St. Thomas will play their final season at Schoenecker Arena, where they have played since 1981, before moving to the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, which will open in the 2025–26 season.[8]
- Vermont was originally slated to open their new arena, Tarrant Event Center, as a replacement for the current arena, Patrick Gym. Construction was to continue in 2021 but it has been delayed indefinitely.[9]
Arena of new D-I teams
[edit]- West Georgia will transition from Division II to Division I and play at the Coliseum in Carrollton, Georgia, where it has played since 2009. It will be ineligible for NCAA-organized postseason play (i.e., the NCAA tournament or NIT) in 2029.
- Mercyhurst will transition from Division II to Division I and play at the Owen McCormick Court in Erie, Pennsylvania (formerly Mercyhurst Athletic Center but renovated in 2021), where it has played since 1977. It will be ineligible for NCAA-organized postseason play for 2029.
Other arena changes
[edit]- Bellarmine announced on August 28, 2024 that home games would return to campus at Knights Hall for the first time since 2019–20. The Knights had played in the interim at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center.[10]
Seasonal outlook
[edit]The Top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaching Polls.
Pre-season polls
[edit]
|
|
Final polls
[edit]
|
|
Top 10 matchups
[edit]Rankings reflect the AP poll Top 25.
Regular season
[edit]Postseason
[edit]Regular season
[edit]Early season tournaments
[edit]Head-to-head conference challenges
[edit]Conference Match Up | Dates | Conference Winner | Conference Loser | Record |
---|
Upsets
[edit]Winner | Score | Loser | Date | Tournamnet/Event | Notes |
---|
Conference winners and tournaments
[edit]Each of the 31 Division I athletic conferences will end its regular season with a single-elimination tournament. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference receives the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. Unless otherwise noted, the winners of these tournaments will receive automatic invitations to the 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
Tournament upsets
[edit]Per the NCAA, an upset occurs "when the losing team in an NCAA Tournament game was seeded at least two seed lines better than the winning team.
Round | TBD (#1) | TBD (#2) | TBD (#3) | TBD (#4) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Round of 64 | ||||
Round of 32 | None | None | None | None |
Sweet 16 | None | None | None | |
Elite 8 | None | None | None | |
Final 4 | None | |||
National Championship | None |
Conference standings
[edit]Award winners
[edit]2025 Consensus All-Americans
[edit]Coaching changes
[edit]Many teams will change coaches during the season and after it ends.
Team | Former |
Interim |
New |
Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|
Holy Cross | Maureen Magarity | Candice Green | Magarity, citing family reasons, announced her resignation from Holy Cross on August 20, 2024, after 4 seasons. Crusaders assistant coach Green was named interim head coach for the season.[11] |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "SFA Athletics Accepts Invitation to Join Southland Conference in 2024-25" (Press release). Southland Conference. May 29, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Neddenreip, Kyle (April 1, 2024). "'A no-brainer.' New IU Indy basketball coach Paul Corsaro will 'start in our backyard.'". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ "Ushering in a new era, the Pac-12 Conference strengthens its legacy by welcoming four respected academic and athletic universities" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
- ^ "Pac-12 Conference and Utah State University Unite to Advance the New Era of the 100-Year-Old Legacy" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ "Pac-12 Conference and Gonzaga University Unite to Build a Basketball Powerhouse, Advancing the New Era of the Conference's 100-Year Legacy" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. September 30, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
- ^ "Mountain West Welcomes UTEP Into The Conference" (Press release). October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
- ^ Ryans, Joshua (November 8, 2023). "Convocation Center Will Soon Be Home For Men's And Women's Basketball Teams". TheGeorgeanne.com. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ "Neighborhood Group Court For Environmental Review Of New St. Thomas Arena". MPRNews.org. November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.[dead link]
- ^ "UVM Sports Complex Arena Still On Hold Wellness Center Open". WCAX.com. September 28, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2022.[dead link]
- ^ "NCAA basketball returns to Knights Hall as Bellarmine celebrates full Division I membership after successful reclassification process" (Press release). Bellarmine Knights. August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
- ^ "Magarity steps down as Holy Cross women's basketball head coach, Green tabbed as interim for 2024-25 campaign" (Press release). Holy Cross Crusaders. August 20, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.