An upset is a victory by an underdog team. In the context of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, a single-elimination tournament, this generally constitutes a lower seeded team defeating a higher-seeded (i.e., higher-ranked) team; a widely recognized upset is one performed by a team ranked substantially lower than its opponent.

This is the list of victories by teams seeded 11 or lower in the first round and second rounds of the tournament, as well as those by teams seeded 8 or 9 against 1 and 7 or 10 against 2 seeds in the second round, since it expanded to 64 teams in 1994; as these low-seeded teams were automatically paired against higher-seeded teams at the start of the tournament, their opening victories are almost always considered upsets. Most victories by these teams in later rounds were usually against better seeded opponents as well. The list also includes victories by teams seeded 8 or lower in the Sweet 16 (the four regional semifinals), teams seeded 7 or lower in the Elite Eight (the four regional finals), and teams seeded 6 or lower in the Final Four. All teams are listed by athletic brand names they used at the time of their wins, which do not always match those in use today.

The NCAA defines a tournament "upset" as a victory by a team seeded 5 or more lines below its defeated opponent.

The first 16 seed ever to win a game in an NCAA Division I basketball tournament was Harvard in 1998 against Stanford. According to an Associated Press retrospective on the 10th anniversary of the game in 2008, "The difference between the teams was much smaller than usual for a No. 1 and a 16 seed." Harvard had two years of tournament experience and the nation's leading scorer that season in Allison Feaster. Stanford suffered two devastating injuries during the run-up to the tournament. First, Vanessa Nygaard tore an ACL in the Cardinal's final regular-season game against Oregon State. Because the extent of her injury was not known at the time the tournament field was selected, the Cardinal still received a 1 seed. Then, in the team's first practice after the tournament selection, leading scorer and rebounder Kristin Folkl also tore an ACL.

Most successful low seeds

Best outcomes for low seeds since expansion to 64 teams in 1994: Seed 2nd Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship Game National Champion No. 16 Harvard (1998) – – – – – No. 15 – – – – – – No. 14 – – – – – – No. 13 – – – – No. 12 numerous (22 teams) – – – – No. 11 numerous (26 teams)numerous (10 teams) – – – No. 10 – – – No. 9 – – No. 8 – – – – No. 7numerous (10 teams) ––No. 6––

Best Performances by #16 Seeds Other than Harvard beating Stanford in 1998, no losing #16 seed has even lost by single digits and/or taken a game to overtime, with the closest margin of defeat being a 12-point loss by #16 Grambling to #1 Texas Tech in the same tournament.

Best Performances by #14 & #15 Seeds No #14 seed has beaten a #3 and no #15 seed has beaten a #2 seed, but they have come close. 2 points: #14 Seed Austin Peay lost to UNC in 2003 (2 points, 72–70) Eastern Michigan lost to Boston College in 2004 (2 points, 58–56) Creighton lost to St. John's in 2012 (2 points, 69–67) Overtime games: #15 Seed UTSA lost to Baylor in 2009 (5 points, 87–82). UTSA is the only #15 seed to take a game into overtime. 1 point: #15 Seed Long Beach State lost to Oregon State in 2017 (1 point, 56–55)

Round of 64

Detail between each pair of seeds in this section has been updated as of completion of the 2026 Round of 64, representing 128 games played between each pair.

16 defeats 1 There has been 1 game where a 16-seed has defeated a 1-seed (), in the round of 64, since 1994: Year Winner Loser Score1998HarvardStanford 71–67

15 defeats 2 No 15-seed has ever won a game in the women's tournament.

The closest margin of defeat by any 15 seed to a 2 seed came in 2017, when Long Beach State lost 56–55 to 2 seed Oregon State.

14 defeats 3 No 14-seed has ever won a game in the women's tournament.

The closest margin of defeat by any 14 seed to a 3 seed has been two points, three times: in 2003 (North Carolina 72–70 over Austin Peay), 2004 (Boston College 58–56 over Eastern Michigan), and 2012 (St. John's 58–56 over Creighton).

13 defeats 4 There have been 7 games where a 13-seed has defeated a 4-seed (), in the round of 64, since 1994:

Year Winner Loser Score1994Texas A&MFlorida78–762000RiceUC Santa Barbara67–642004Middle TennesseeNorth Carolina67–622005LibertyPenn State78–702007MaristOhio State67–632012MaristGeorgia76–702021Wright StateArkansas66–62

12 defeats 5 There have been 26 games where a 12-seed has defeated a 5-seed (), in the round of 64, since 1994:

Year Winner Loser Score1994Western KentuckyRutgers84–731995MontanaSan Diego State57–461996Notre DamePurdue73–60San FranciscoFlorida68–611997MarquetteClemson70–661998Colorado StateDrake81–75Youngstown StateMemphis91–802000SMUNC State64–632002Mississippi StateBoston College65–59UC Santa BarbaraLouisiana Tech57–562004MarylandMiami (FL)86–852005Middle TennesseeNC State60–582006TulsaNC State71–612009Ball StateTennessee71–55GonzagaXavier75–592010Green BayVirginia69–672013KansasColorado67–522014BYUNC State72–572016South Dakota StateMiami (FL)74–71AlbanyFlorida61–592017QuinnipiacMarquette68–652018Florida Gulf CoastMissouri80–702021BelmontGonzaga64–592022BelmontOregon73–702 OT Florida Gulf Coast Virginia Tech84–812023Florida Gulf CoastWashington State74–63ToledoIowa State80–73

11 defeats 6 There have been 37 games where an 11-seed has defeated a 6-seed (), in the round of 64, since 1994:

Year Winner Loser Score1995LouisvilleOregon67–651996Stephen F. AustinOregon State67–651998UC Santa BarbaraVanderbilt76–71OTVirginia TechWisconsin75–641999Saint Joseph'sDuke83–72SMUToledo91–762000Stephen F. AustinXavier73–72UABOregon80–79OT2001TCUPenn State77–752002BYUFlorida90–522003Notre DameArizona59–472004UC Santa BarbaraColorado76–492006HartfordTemple64–58New MexicoFlorida83–59TCUTexas A&M69–652007West VirginiaXavier65–522008Florida StateOhio State60–492009Mississippi StateTexas71–632010Arkansas–Little RockGeorgia Tech63–53San Diego StateTexas74–632011GonzagaIowa92–862012GonzagaRutgers86–73KansasNebraska57–492014FloridaDayton83–69James MadisonGonzaga72–632015GonzagaGeorge Washington82–69Miami (FL)Washington86–80Arkansas-Little RockTexas A&M69–602018Central MichiganLSU78–69BuffaloSouth Florida102–79CreightonIowa76–702019Missouri StateDePaul89–782021BYURutgers69–662022PrincetonKentucky69–62VillanovaBYU61–572023Mississippi StateCreighton79–642024Middle TennesseeLouisville71–69

Round of 32

This round is called the second round. Occasionally, it is referred to as the regional quarterfinals.

This shows all Round of 32 upset victories by teams seeded 11 or lower, continuing their upset victories from the round of 64. This section introduces additional "meeting criteria of team seeded 5 or more lines below its defeated opponent", being all Round of 32 upset victories by teams seeded 8 or 9 against 1 seeds and by teams seeded 7 or 10 against 2 seeds.

16th seed victories No 16 seed has ever won a second-round game. Harvard, the only 16 seed to advance to the second round, lost to 9 seed Arkansas 82–64 in the second round.

13th seed victories Three of the seven 13 seeds () who advanced from the round of 64 also achieved a victory in the round of 32. Seeds of the teams they defeated are in parentheses.

All of the 13 seeds who advanced from the round of 64 faced a 5 seed.

Year Winner Loser Score1994Texas A&M(5) San Diego State75–72OT2005Liberty(5) DePaul88–792007Marist(5) Middle Tennessee73–59

12th seed victories Four of the twenty-six 12 seeds () who advanced from the round of 64 also achieved a victory in the round of 32. Seeds of the teams they defeated are in parentheses.

All of the 12 seeds who advanced from the round of 64 faced a 4 seed.

Year Winner Loser Score1996San Francisco(4) Duke64–602013Kansas(4) South Carolina75–692014BYU(4) Nebraska80–762017Quinnipiac(4) Miami (FL)85–78

11th seed victories Eleven of the thirty-seven 11 seeds () who advanced from the round of 64 also achieved a victory in the round of 32. Seeds of the teams they defeated are in parentheses.

All of the 11 seeds who advanced from the round of 64 faced a 3 seed.

Year Winner Loser Score1996Stephen F. Austin(3) Clemson93–88OT2000UAB(3) Mississippi State78–722002BYU(3) Iowa State75–692003Notre Dame(3) Kansas State59–532004UC Santa Barbara(3) Houston56–522010San Diego State(3) West Virginia64–552011Gonzaga(3) UCLA89–752012Gonzaga(3) Miami (FL)65–54Kansas(3) Delaware70–642015Gonzaga(3) Oregon State76–652018Central Michigan(3) Ohio State95–78Buffalo(3) Florida State86–652019Missouri State(3) Iowa State69–60

10th seed victories Five of the forty-one 10 seeds () who advanced from the round of 64 also achieved a victory in the round of 32. Seeds of the teams they defeated are in parentheses.

All of the 10 seeds who advanced from the round of 64 faced a 2 seed.

Year Winner Loser Score2001Missouri(2) Georgia78-652007Florida State (2) Stanford 68-812017Oregon(2) Duke74-652022South Dakota(2) Baylor61-47Creighton(2) Iowa64-622026Virginia(2) Iowa83-752OT

9th seed victories Four of the fifty-nine 9 seeds () who advanced from the round of 64 also won in the round of 32. Seeds of the teams they defeated are in parentheses.

One of these victories was against a lower seeded team that had also advanced from the round of 64 due to upset; thus, this second-round victory does not count as an upset, and has been shown here in a table separate from the three upset wins by 9 seeds in the second round. Three of the fifty-eight 9 seeds who have faced a 1 seed advanced to the Sweet Sixteen ().

Defeated a lower seedYearWinnerLoserScore1998Arkansas(16) Harvard82-64

Second Round upsetsYearWinnerLoserScore1998Notre Dame(1) Texas Tech 74-592009Michigan State(1) Duke63-492023Miami (FL)(1) Indiana70-68

8th seed victories Two of the sixty-one 8 seeds () who advanced from the round of 64 also achieved a victory in the round of 32. Seeds of the teams they defeated are in parentheses. Neither of these teams would win in the Sweet Sixteen, with Boston College losing to 5 seed Utah by three points in 2006 after missing three game tying shots in the last 20 seconds and Ole Miss losing by ten points to 5 seed Louisville in 2023.

Both of the 8 seeds who advanced from the round of 64 faced a 1 seed.

Year Winner Loser Score2006Boston College(1) Ohio State68-452023Ole Miss(1) Stanford54-49

7th seed victories Sixteen of the seventy-nine 7 seeds () who advanced from the round of 64 also achieved a victory in the round of 32. Seeds of the teams they defeated are in parentheses.

All of the 7 seeds who advanced from the round of 64 faced a 2 seed.

Year Winner Loser Score1995NC State(2) Penn State76-742002Drake(2) Baylor76-72Old Dominion(2) Purdue74-70OT2004Minnesota(2) Kansas State80-612007Bowling Green(2) Vanderbilt59-56Ole Miss(2) Maryland89-782009Rutgers(2) Auburn80-522010Gonzaga(2) Texas A&M72-71Mississippi State(2) Ohio State85-672011Louisville(2) Xavier85-752014LSU(2) West Virginia76-67DePaul(2) Duke74-652015Dayton(2) Kentucky99-942016Washington(2) Maryland74-65Tennessee(2) Arizona State75-642024Duke(2) Ohio State75-63

Sweet Sixteen

The Sweet Sixteen are the eight pairs of teams that meet in the Regional semifinals.

13 seeds Although three 13 seeds made it to the Sweet Sixteen, none of them won their games in this round. The closest margin of defeat happened in 2007, when Marist lost to 1 seed Tennessee by 19 points.

12 seeds Although four 12 seeds made it to the Sweet Sixteen, none of them won their games in this round. The closest margin of defeat happened in 2014, when BYU lost to 1 seed UConn by 19 points.

11 seeds