Earned It

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford earned its 34th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid when the NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Committee announced the field Sunday evening.

The Cardinal (28-3, 16-0), earned a No. 1 seed for the second year in a row and was placed in the Spokane region. As one of the nation's top 16 overall seeds, Stanford will host first and second-round games in Maples Pavilion on Friday, March 18 and Sunday, March 20. Stanford will open its 35th overall postseason against No. 16 Montana State (22-12, 14-6) on Friday, while the No. 8 seed Kansas (20-9, 11-7) and No. 9 seed Georgia Tech (21-10, 11-7) will face off in the day's other game. Times and TV designations are TBA.

Tickets for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be available to the public at noon PT on Monday, Mar. 14 at gostanford.com/tickets.

As a city, Stanford, Calif. has served as a host for 73 NCAA Tournament games, the second-most behind Knoxville, Tenn. (86). Each of those games has been played in Maples Pavilion, which has hosted more NCAA Tournament games than any other facility.
 
The Cardinal is 38-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games at Maples Pavilion and has won 18 straight. This season will be the 23rd in which Stanford has hosted NCAA Tournament games in Maples Pavilion since staging its first in 1989 and the 22nd in which the Cardinal has opened up its postseason at home.

The No. 1 seed is Stanford's second straight after six tournament hiatus, as the Cardinal earned the Pac-12's automatic berth into the field after winning its 15th conference tournament championship. Since its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1982, Stanford has won three national championships (1990, 1992, 2021), reached 14 Final Fours (1990-92, 1995-97, 2008-12, 2014, 2017, 2021), 21 Elite Eights, 27 Sweet 16s and compiled an NCAA Tournament record of 95-31 (.754).

The upcoming tournament marks Tara VanDerveer's 36th all-time appearance in The Big Dance, the most of any coach all-time. Her 93 tournament wins are third in NCAA history, as are her 125 career NCAA Tournament games.

Stanford's 14 Final Four appearances are the third-most by any school entering this year's tournament, and its 35 overall appearances rank second behind only Tennessee (40 appearances). 

Tennessee is the only school that has a longer active streak of NCAA Tournament appearances than Stanford's 34. The Lady Vols have earned a bid to all 40 NCAA Tournaments. The Cardinal's 95 wins in the NCAA Tournament are third all-time behind Tennessee (126) and Connecticut (125) as are its 126 tournament games. Tennessee has appeared in 157 and Connecticut 146. Its winning percentage of .754 is fourth-best in tournament history.

Stanford has gone on to reach the Final Four as a No. 1 seed eight times (1990, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2021), winning the championship in 1990, 1992 and 2021.

The Cardinal is 2-0 all-time vs. Montana State but has not played the Bobcats since 1986, VanDerveer's first season at Stanford. Stanford has never played Kansas or Georgia Tech.