TCU women’s basketball is going dancing again, and once again, it is doing it at home. 

When the bracket was unveiled Sunday, 14th-ranked TCU learned it had been awarded a No. 3 national seed, the second-highest in program history, and earned hosting rights for the opening two rounds of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. The occasion marks TCU’s 11th appearance in the Big Dance and, more significantly, the program’s second in a row, the first time the Horned Frogs have strung together consecutive berths since 2009 and 2010. 

TCU’s Schollmaier Arena, which hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2025, will do so again in 2026 after the Horned Frogs earned a No. 3 seed. Courtesy of TCU Athletics | Zach Campbell

“Anyone that gets the chance to play in March knows the advantage that you have playing at your home site,” said junior guard Donovyn Hunter. “The fans, the community, they all showed up for us last year. So, I’m super excited that we’re able to do it again. Obviously, it’s a testament to the work that our team has done.” 

The Horned Frogs (29-5, 15-3 Big 12) will open the tournament Friday at Schollmaier Arena against No. 14 seed UC San Diego (24-8, 17-3 Big West). Last year’s TCU squad was a No. 2 seed and reached the Elite Eight, the program’s first trip to the second weekend of March Madness. This year, the women returned, and brought the men’s program along for the ride, the first time in school history both teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in the same season. 

Nothing about that was accidental. 

“Over the course of 34 games, we put together a résumé that the committee felt we were worthy of hosting,” said head coach Mark Campbell. “That’s really, really hard to do. And it was one of those things that in June, we set as a team goal. And this group has been chasing that this whole year.” 

With a win in Round 1, TCU would become one of six programs nationally to have assembled back-to-back 30-win seasons, joining No. 1 seeds UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina, plus Fairleigh Dickinson, whom the Frogs defeated in the first round of last season’s tournament. Since the current coaching staff arrived in March of 2023, the Horned Frogs have accumulated 84 victories, seventh-most in the country over that stretch, and rank fifth nationally in both win percentage (.875) and total wins (63) across the past two seasons. They enter the tournament as the only program in the 68-team field to have claimed consecutive outright Power Conference regular-season titles.

Cal transfer Marta Suárez is averaging a career-high 17.2 points per game in her first season with the Frogs. The stretch forward and 2026 all-conference first-teamer is among the newcomers who’ve helped push TCU to the brink of a second consecutive 30-win campaign. Courtesy of TCU Athletics | Amanda Transou

“Elite programs are consistent,” Campbell said. “And so, for us to do this … I think it shows how special TCU is, our athletic department, and our staff’s ability to build these teams, really from scratch.” 

Despite a heavy roster overhaul from the 2024-25 team, nine players on this year’s roster have NCAA Tournament experience, combining for 37 appearances across their careers. 

That veteran presence matters in a month when every possession carries heightened weight.

“It’s just an aspect of desperation,” said graduate guard and recently named Big 12 Player of the Year Olivia Miles. “You know your season’s on the line, your journey’s on the line with a group of people you really care about. So, that’s the difference between March and the regular season. It ultimately just comes down to preparation and detail-driven focus. That’s kind of what the margin of error is, and how slim it is, that decides these games.”

Friday’s opener, set for an 11 a.m. CST tipoff, presents a genuine test. UC San Diego’s Erin Condron, who has spent all three of her college seasons with the Tritons in an era when that kind of constancy is increasingly rare, is one of the more complete players in the bracket, the 6-foot-4 junior forward leading the Tritons in scoring at 15.7 points per game, rebounding at 8.6 per game and blocks at 1.3 per game while converting 53.6 percent of her field goal attempts. Senior guard Makayla Rose adds 12.8 points and a team-high 3.2 steals per game. 

A TCU victory would set up a Sunday matchup at Schollmaier against the winner of No. 6 Washington and No. 11 South Dakota State. The Huskies, last year making only their second NCAA Tournament since 2017, are anchored by guards Sayvia Sellers, who averages 18.5 points and 3.7 assists per game, and Avery Howell, who contributes 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. South Dakota State counters with senior forward Brooklyn Meyer, a three-time All-Summit player for the Jackrabbits, who leads her team in scoring at 22.4 points per game, rebounds at 8.0, assists at 2.7 and blocks at 1.9 while shooting 64.6 percent from the floor.

— Corey Zapata-Smith