Since the women’s NCAA basketball tournament began in 1982, just one team has appeared in every edition of it: the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, one of the teams synonymous with excellence in women’s college basketball.
But several other schools have pieced together impressive streaks, too, some lasting more than two decades.
Here are longest active appearance streaks in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Tennessee (43)
Tennessee hired the late, great Pat Summitt as its head coach in 1974, and four years later they were in AIAW Final Four, the tournament that preceded the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. Summitt’s teams appeared in four AIAW Final Fours and made the Final Four in the first year of the NCAA tournament in 1982, too. Summitt’s teams went to 18 Final Fours and won 16 SEC tournament titles.
UConn (36)
Believe it or not, there was a time where UConn wasn’t in the NCAA tournament. Geno Auriemma was hired in 1985 and missed the Big Dance in each of his first three seasons. But in the fourth year, in 1989, UConn won the Big East and got in.
The Huskies have appeared in the NCAA tournament ever since. They made their first Final Four in 1991 and captured their first national championship in 1995.
Here's the list of the top active streaks:
| APPEARANCEs | TEAM | YEARs |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Tennessee | 1982-2019, 2021-25 |
| 36 | UConn | 1989-2019, 2021-25 |
| 21 | Baylor | 2004-19, 2021-25 |
| 14 | Louisville | 2011-19, 2021-25 |
| 14 | Maryland | 2011-19, 2021-25 |
| 13 | South Carolina | 2012-19, 2021-25 |
| 12 | Florida State | 2013-19, 2021-25 |
Mitchell Northam is a graduate of Salisbury University. His work has been featured at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Orlando Sentinel, SB Nation, FanSided, USA Today and the Delmarva Daily Times. He grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore and is now based in Durham, N.C.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
