question: Why are there way more upsets in the NCAA men's basketball tournament compared to women's?
comment: There is not as much talent available in women's basketball as men's. Since the WNBA is nowhere the oppertunity the NBA a lot of women that could be high level athletes don't take athletics as seriously as talented men do. So with a limited amount of talent they tend to clump together in programs like UConn who dominate other schools who don't have the talent they do. With as many men availible to fill the NCAA ranks you get more parity.
passages: Unlike the men's tournament, in which eight (8) 15 seeds and twenty-one (21) 14 seeds have won their opening games since that tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, no 14 or 15 seed has ever won a game in the women's tournament. The closest any 15 seed came to winning was in 2017, when Long Beach State lost 56–55 to Oregon State.
  
  Section::::First round.:13 vs. 4.
  
  Six 13 seeds have defeated 4 seeds in the first round.
   Section::::Sweet Sixteen.
  
  Section::::Sweet Sixteen.:13 seeds.
  
  To date, no 13 seed, in either the men's or women's tournament, has advanced to the Elite Eight. 
  
  Section::::Sweet Sixteen.:12 seeds.
  
  Unlike the men's tournament, in which one 12 seed won its Sweet 16 game since 1985, no 12 seed has ever won a game in the women's tournament.
  
  Section::::Sweet Sixteen.:11 seeds.
   Unlike the men's tournament, in which one 15 seed and two 14 seeds have won their second-round games since that tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, no 14 or 15 seed has ever won a game in that round.
  
  Section::::Second round.:13 seeds.
  
  Three 13 seeds have won their second-round games, compared to six in the men's tournament (five of which occurred since 1998). All three of the winning 13 seeds in the women's tournament defeated 5 seeds.
  
  Section::::Second round.:12 seeds.
   BULLET::::- Hall of Fame coaches Tara VanDerveer and Muffet McGraw had never before met in post-season, and the two teams, Stanford and Notre Dame, had only met twice previously, with Stanford winning in 1990 and 1991. Notre Dame's Lindsay Allen, who averages just under ten points a game, matched her career high of 24 in the first half, and ended with 28 points. Jewell Loyd scored 21, and the Irish ended up a double-digit lead by halftime, and extended the lead by ten more to win 81–60.
  
  Section::::Bracket.:Oklahoma City Regional – Oklahoma City.:Sweet Sixteen.:Elite Eight (Regional Final).
   BULLET::::- In 2012, Baylor entered the tournament 34–0, beat Notre Dame for the national title, and ended the season 40–0. The Lady Bears became the first team in NCAA college basketball history, for either women or men, to win 40 games in a season. Notably, Louisiana Tech went 40–5 during the 1979–80 season. This was during the AIAW era for women's basketball.
  
  BULLET::::- In 2014, Connecticut (34–0) and Notre Dame (32–0) both entered the tournament unbeaten; Connecticut beat Notre Dame 79–58 for the national title, ended the season 40–0 and is the 8th team to end the season unbeaten.
   BULLET::::- 2010 Connecticut beat Stanford
  
  BULLET::::- 2012 Baylor beat Notre Dame
  
  BULLET::::- 2014 Connecticut beat Notre Dame
  
  BULLET::::- 2015 Connecticut beat Notre Dame
  
  BULLET::::- 2018 Notre Dame beat Mississippi State
  
  BULLET::::- 2019 Baylor beat Notre Dame
  
  Three teams have beaten three #1 seeds during the course of a tournament (the largest number of such teams that can be faced) (all three teams won the national championship as beating a 3rd #1 seed in a single tournament can only happen in the finals):
  
  BULLET::::- 1987 Tennessee (beat Auburn, Long Beach State, Louisiana Tech)
  
  BULLET::::- 1988 Louisiana Tech (beat Auburn, Tennessee, Texas)
   BULLET::::- 2019 – Tampa Bay, Florida
  
  BULLET::::- 2020 – New Orleans, Louisiana
  
  BULLET::::- 2021 – San Antonio, Texas
  
  BULLET::::- 2022 – Minneapolis, Minnesota
  
  BULLET::::- 2023 – Dallas, Texas
  
  BULLET::::- 2024 – Cleveland, Ohio
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:Top-ranked teams.
  
  Since the women's tournament began in 1982, 17 teams have entered the tournament ranked #1 in at least 1 poll and gone on to win the tournament:
  
  BULLET::::- 1982: Louisiana Tech
  
  BULLET::::- 1983: USC
  
  BULLET::::- 1986: Texas
  
  BULLET::::- 1989: Tennessee
  
  BULLET::::- 1995: Connecticut
  
  BULLET::::- 1998: Tennessee
  
  BULLET::::- 1999: Purdue
  
  BULLET::::- 2000: Connecticut
  
  BULLET::::- 2002: Connecticut
  
  BULLET::::- 2003: Connecticut
  
  BULLET::::- 2009: Connecticut
   BULLET::::- Liberty in 2005
  
  BULLET::::- Marist in 2007
  
  BULLET::::- Regional Finals (Elite Eight): #11 seed
  
  BULLET::::- Gonzaga in 2011
  
  BULLET::::- National Semifinals (Final Four): #9 seed
  
  BULLET::::- Arkansas in 1998
  
  BULLET::::- National Finals (Championship Game): #5 seed
  
  BULLET::::- Louisville in 2013
  
  BULLET::::- National Champion: #3 seed
  
  BULLET::::- North Carolina in 1994
  
  BULLET::::- Tennessee in 1997
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:Best Performances by #14 & #15 Seeds.
  
  Unlike in the men's tournament, no #14 seed has beaten a #3 and no #15 seed has beaten a #2 seed, but they have come close.
  
  BULLET::::- 2 points: #14 Seed
   By contrast, the men's tournament has seen 20 such upsets since 1994. Eight more occurred between 1985 and 1993, when the men's tournament featured 64 teams but the women's tournament had fewer entrants (32 in 1985, 40 from 1986 to 1988, and 48 from 1989 to 1993).
  
  Section::::First round.:12 vs. 5.
  
  There have been twenty-two (22) 12-seeds to defeat 5-seeds in the first round. The men's tournament has seen 38 such wins since 1994, with nine more taking place between 1985 and 1993.
  
  Section::::First round.:11 vs. 6.
   BULLET::::- 2005 Baylor (beat LSU, Michigan State, North Carolina)
  
  Prior to the expansion of the tournament to 64 teams, all four #1 seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with three exceptions. Notably, the first two times this occurred were at the hands of the same school:
  
  BULLET::::- 1986 East #1 seed Virginia lost to #8 seed James Madison
  
  BULLET::::- 1991 East #1 seed Penn State lost to #8 seed James Madison
  
  BULLET::::- 1992 Midwest #1 seed Iowa lost to #8 seed Southwest Missouri State
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:High seeds.
   Of the other teams to play in their home states, Stanford (1992) won the national title; Notre Dame (2011) lost in the championship game; and Western Kentucky (1986), Penn State (2000), Missouri State (2001), LSU (2004), and Baylor (2010) lost in the semifinals.
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:Championship margins.
  
  BULLET::::- Overtime games in a championship game:
  
  BULLET::::- Tennessee 70, Virginia 67/OT (1991)
  
  BULLET::::- Maryland 78, Duke 75/OT (2006)
  
  BULLET::::- Smallest margin of victory in a championship game: 1 point
  
  BULLET::::- North Carolina 60, Louisiana Tech 59 (1994)
  
  BULLET::::- Baylor 82, Notre Dame 81 (2019)
   BULLET::::- In 1986, Texas entered the tournament 30–0, beat USC for the national title, and ended the season 34–0.
  
  BULLET::::- In 1990, Louisiana Tech entered the tournament 29–0, but lost in the Final Four to Auburn.
  
  BULLET::::- In 1992, Vermont entered the tournament 29–0, but lost in the first round to George Washington.
  
  BULLET::::- In 1993, Vermont entered the tournament 28–0, but lost in the first round to Rutgers.
  
  BULLET::::- In 1995, Connecticut entered the tournament 29–0, beat Tennessee for the national title, and ended the season 35–0.
   BULLET::::- 2001 – St. Louis, Missouri
  
  BULLET::::- 2002 – San Antonio, Texas
  
  BULLET::::- 2003 – Atlanta, Georgia
  
  BULLET::::- 2004 – New Orleans, Louisiana
  
  BULLET::::- 2005 – Indianapolis, Indiana
  
  BULLET::::- 2006 – Boston, Massachusetts
  
  BULLET::::- 2007 – Cleveland, Ohio
  
  BULLET::::- 2008 – Tampa Bay, Florida
  
  BULLET::::- 2009 – St. Louis, Missouri
  
  BULLET::::- 2010 – San Antonio, Texas
  
  BULLET::::- 2011 – Indianapolis, Indiana
  
  BULLET::::- 2012 – Denver, Colorado
  
  BULLET::::- 2013 – New Orleans, Louisiana
  
  BULLET::::- 2014 – Nashville, Tennessee
  
  BULLET::::- 2015 – Tampa Bay, Florida
  
  BULLET::::- 2016 – Indianapolis, Indiana
  
  BULLET::::- 2017 – Dallas, Texas
  
  BULLET::::- 2018 – Columbus, Ohio
   BULLET::::- Austin Peay lost to UNC in 2003 (2 points, 72–70)
  
  BULLET::::- Eastern Michigan lost to Boston College in 2004 (2 points, 58–56)
  
  BULLET::::- Creighton lost to St. John's in 2012 (2 points, 69–67)
  
  BULLET::::- Overtime games: #15 Seed
  
  BULLET::::- UTSA lost to Baylor in 2009 (5 points, 87–82). UTSA is the only #15 seed to take a game into overtime.
  
  BULLET::::- 1 point: #15 Seed
  
  BULLET::::- Long Beach State lost to Oregon State in 2017 (1 point, 56–55)
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:First-round games.
  
  Since the expansion to 64 teams in 1994, each seed-pairing has played 104 first-round games with these results:
   BULLET::::- 1983 – Norfolk, Virginia
  
  BULLET::::- 1984 – Los Angeles, California
  
  BULLET::::- 1985 – Austin, Texas
  
  BULLET::::- 1986 – Lexington, Kentucky
  
  BULLET::::- 1987 – Austin, Texas
  
  BULLET::::- 1988 – Tacoma, Washington
  
  BULLET::::- 1989 – Tacoma, Washington
  
  BULLET::::- 1990 – Knoxville, Tennessee
  
  BULLET::::- 1991 – New Orleans, Louisiana
  
  BULLET::::- 1992 – Los Angeles, California
  
  BULLET::::- 1993 – Atlanta, Georgia
  
  BULLET::::- 1994 – Richmond, Virginia
  
  BULLET::::- 1995 – Minneapolis, Minnesota
  
  BULLET::::- 1996 – Charlotte, North Carolina
  
  BULLET::::- 1997 – Cincinnati, Ohio
  
  BULLET::::- 1998 – Kansas City, Missouri
  
  BULLET::::- 1999 – San Jose, California
  
  BULLET::::- 2000 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
   BULLET::::- In 2015, Princeton entered the tournament 30–0, but lost in the second round to Maryland.
  
  BULLET::::- In 2016, Connecticut entered the tournament 32–0, beat Syracuse for the national title, ending the season 38–0.
  
  BULLET::::- In 2017, Connecticut entered the tournament 32–0, but lost in the Final Four to Mississippi State, ending their 111-game winning streak to finish 36–1.
  
  BULLET::::- In 2018, Connecticut entered the tournament 32–0, but lost in the Final Four to Notre Dame, ending their 36-game winning streak to finish 36–1.
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:Home state.
   BULLET::::- 1996 SEC, Tennessee and Georgia
  
  BULLET::::- 2006 ACC, Maryland and Duke
  
  BULLET::::- 2009 Big East, Connecticut and Louisville
  
  BULLET::::- 2013 Big East, Connecticut and Louisville
  
  BULLET::::- 2017 SEC, South Carolina and Mississippi State
  
  Section::::Result by school and by year.
  
  284 teams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in at least one year starting with 1982 (the initial year that the post-season tournament was under the auspices of the NCAA). The results for all years are shown in this table below.
  
  The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:
   All four #1 seeds have made it to the Final Four 4 times (champion in bold):
  
  BULLET::::- 1989 Auburn, Louisiana Tech, Maryland, Tennessee
  
  BULLET::::- 2012 Baylor, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Stanford
  
  BULLET::::- 2015 Connecticut, Maryland, Notre Dame, South Carolina
  
  BULLET::::- 2018 Connecticut, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Louisville
  
  The championship game has matched two #1 seeds 14 times:
  
  BULLET::::- 1983 USC beat Louisiana Tech
  
  BULLET::::- 1986 Texas beat USC
  
  BULLET::::- 1989 Tennessee beat Auburn
  
  BULLET::::- 1991 Tennessee beat Virginia
  
  BULLET::::- 1995 Connecticut beat Tennessee
  
  BULLET::::- 2000 Connecticut beat Tennessee
  
  BULLET::::- 2002 Connecticut beat Oklahoma
  
  BULLET::::- 2003 Connecticut beat Tennessee
   BULLET::::- 1999 was the first time in tournament history (since the expansion to 64 teams) that all top seeds (1, 2, 3, and 4 seeds) made it to the Sweet Sixteen.
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:Low seeds.
  
  Lowest seeds to reach each round since the expansion to 64 teams:
  
  BULLET::::- Second Round: #16 seed
  
  BULLET::::- Harvard in 1998 (the only #16 seed to beat a #1 seed in either the women's or men's tournament until 2018, and still the only one to do so in the women's tournament)
  
  BULLET::::- Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen): #13 seed
  
  BULLET::::- Texas A&M in 1994
   BULLET::::- Top 9 largest point differentials accumulated over the entire tournament by tournament champion. Notably, Louisiana Tech's differential is prior to the expansion of 64 teams and the addition of one more round of play.
  
  BULLET::::- 2016 Connecticut (+239)
  
  BULLET::::- 2010 Connecticut (+214)
  
  BULLET::::- 2013 Connecticut (+208)
  
  BULLET::::- 2015 Connecticut (+197)
  
  BULLET::::- 2000 Connecticut (+187)
  
  BULLET::::- 2002 Connecticut (+161)
  
  BULLET::::- 2019 Baylor (+159)
  
  BULLET::::- 1982 Louisiana Tech (+158)
  
  BULLET::::- 2014 Connecticut (+156)
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:Same-conference championship games.
  
  6 championship games have featured two teams from the same conference (winner in bold):
  
  BULLET::::- 1989 SEC, Tennessee and Auburn
   Only one team seeded 11 or lower has won in the Sweet 16 and advanced to the Elite Eight—11 seed Gonzaga in 2011, who defeated 7 seed Louisville. By contrast, four such teams have won at this stage in the men's tournament since 1994, with two more doing so from 1985 to 1993.
  
  Section::::Elite Eight.
   BULLET::::- 2010: Connecticut
  
  BULLET::::- 2012: Baylor
  
  BULLET::::- 2014: Connecticut
  
  BULLET::::- 2015: Connecticut
  
  BULLET::::- 2016: Connecticut
  
  BULLET::::- 2019: Baylor
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:Champions excluded the next year.
  
  Only once has the reigning champion (the previous year's winner) not made it to the tournament the next year.
  
  BULLET::::- 1985 champion Old Dominion went 15–13 in 1986.
  
  Section::::Tournament trends.:#1 seeds.
  
  Since 1982, at least one #1 seed has made the Final Four every year.
  
  Under coach Geno Auriemma, Connecticut has been seeded #1 a record 22 times. Tennessee is second with 21 #1 seeds.
   NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament appearances by school
  
  Section::::Result by school and by year.
  
  259 teams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in one or more years, between 1982 (the initial year that the post-season tournament was under the auspices of the NCAA) and 2014. The results for each year are summarized in the table below.
  
  The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:
  
  BULLET::::- - Not in tournament
  
  BULLET::::- O Opening Round (only in 1983)
  
  BULLET::::- 1 First round
  
  BULLET::::- 2 Second Round
  
  BULLET::::- S Sweet Sixteen
   BULLET::::- 900 victories - C. Vivian Stringer - Rutgers University. February 26 versus South Florida.
  
  BULLET::::- 700 victories - Muffet McGraw - University of Notre Dame. February 5 versus Villanova.
  
  BULLET::::- 600 victories - Lisa Bluder - University of Iowa. January 20 versus Purdue.
  
  Section::::Conference membership changes.
  
  The 2012–13 season saw the second wave of membership changes resulting from a major realignment of NCAA Division I conferences. The cycle began in 2010 with the Big Ten and the then-Pac-10 publicly announcing their intentions to expand. The fallout from these conferences' moves later affected a majority of D-I conferences.
   BULLET::::- 700 victories - Cindy Russo - Florida International University. February 5 versus Colgate.
  
  BULLET::::- 500 victories - Kathy Delaney-Smith - Harvard University. November 23 versus Colgate.
  
  BULLET::::- 500 victories - Joanne McCallie - Duke University. December 8 versus Oklahoma.
  
  Section::::Conference membership changes.
  