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Howard, Jackson State and Cheyney broke NCAA tournament ground when they appeared in the inaugural DI women’s basketball tournament back in 1982. Since then, a total of 19 HBCU women’s basketball programs have played in the March Madness bracket.

Let’s dive in to the past performance of how the HBCU programs fared.

School breakdown

Hampton has the most NCAA tournament appearances of any HBCU women’s basketball program, but has yet to win a game. The Pirates last appeared in the tournament in 2017. Bethune-Cookman became the latest HBCU to make its debut appearance in the tournament during the 2019 season.

Here’s a look at the appearance of HBCUs in the DI women’s basketball tournament

# of Appearances
HBCU

9
Hampton

7
Jackson State, Southern

6
Prairie View A&M, Grambling State, Howard

5
North Carolina A&T

4
Norfolk State

3
Tennessee State, Coppin State, Cheyney,
Alcorn State, Alabama State

2
Florida A&M

1
Texas Southern, South Carolina State, Savannah State,
Delaware State, Bethune-Cookman

The only HBCUs to win a tournament game are Cheyney, South Carolina State, Howard and Southern. Only Howard and Southern have won a game since there have been at least 64 teams in the bracket, both winning in the First Four. Cheyney is the only HBCU women’s basketball team to advance to a Final Four or title game.

Here’s a look at every HBCU’s all-time record in the tournament:

School
record
Win %
Last APp

Alabama State
0-3
.000
2016

Alcorn State
0-3
.000
2005

Bethune-Cookman
0-1
.000
2019

Cheyney
8-3
.727
1984

Coppin State
0-3
.000
2008

Delaware State
0-1
.000
2007

Florida A&M
0-2
.000
1999

Grambling State
0-6
.000
2018

Hampton
0-9
.000
2017

Howard
1-7
.125
2022

Jackson State
0-7
.000
2024

Norfolk State
0-4
.000
2025

North Carolina A&T
0-5
.000
2021

Prairie View A&M
0-6
.000
2014

Savannah State
0-1
.000
2015

South Carolina State
1-1
.500
1983

Southern
1-7
.125
2025

Tennessee State
0-3
.000
2015

Texas Southern
0-1
.000
2017

Seeding

HBCUs have typically been seeded towards the bottom of the bracket since the Round of 64 began. Of the 66 times HBCUs have participated in the Round of 64, they have been seeded 16th — the lowest possible seed — 35 times.

The highest seed any HBCU has had entering the Round of 64 has been No. 12, a height reached three times.

Prior to the tournament’s expansion, Cheyney received the No. 1, 2 and 3 seeds in 1983, 1982 and 1984, respectively. A No. 7 seed — the second-lowest seed — went to Jackson State in 1982 and a No. 8 seed — the lowest seed — went to Howard in 1982 and Jackson State and South Carolina State in 1983.

All-time HBCU women’s basketball in NCAA tournament by seed

Seed
Total seeds
% Seeded
Seed Record
Win %

No. 1
1
.015
1-1
.500

No. 2
1
.015
4-1
.800

No. 3
1
.015
2-1
.666

No. 7
1
.015
0-1
.000

No. 8
3
.045
1-3
.250

No. 12
3
.045
0-3
.000

No. 13
3
.045
0-3
.000

No. 14
5
.076
0-5
.000

No. 15
19
.297
0-19
.000

No. 16
35
.530
2-34
.059

Game results

Here are the results from every NCAA tournament game from an HBCU women’s basketball program.

Year
School
Seed
Opponent
Result
Score

2025
Southern
No. 16
No. 16 UC San Diego
W
68-56

 
Southern
No. 16
No. 1 UCLA
L
84-46

 
Norfolk State
No. 13
No. 4 Maryland
L
82-69

2024
Norfolk State
No. 5
No. 2 Stanford
L
79-50

 
Jackson State
No. 14
No. 3 UConn
L
86-64

2023
Southern
No. 16
No. 16 Sacred Heart
L
47-57

 
Norfolk State
No. 16
No. 1 South Carolina
L
40-72

2022
Howard
No. 16
No. 16 Incarnate Word
W
55–51

 
Howard
No. 16
No. 1 South Carolina
L
21–79

 
Jackson State
No. 14
No. 3 LSU
L
77–83

2021
Jackson State
No. 15
No. 2 Baylor
L
52–101

 
North Carolina A&T
No. 16
No. 1 NC State
L
58–71

2019
Bethune-Cookman
No. 16
No. 1 Notre Dame
L
50-92

 
Southern
No. 16
No. 1 Mississippi State
L
46-103

2018
North Carolina A&T
No. 15
No. 2 South Carolina
L
52–63

 
Grambling State
No. 15
No. 2 Baylor
L
46-96

2017
Hampton
No. 15
No. 2 Duke
L
31−94

 
Texas Southern
No. 16
No. 1 Baylor
L
30-119

2016
Alabama State
No. 15
No. 2 Texas
L
42-86

 
North Carolina A&T
No. 16
No. 1 Notre Dame
L
61–95

2015
Alabama State
No. 15
No. 2 Florida State
L
49-91

 
Savannah State
No. 16
No. 1 South Carolina
L
48-81

 
Tennessee State
No. 15
No. 2 Kentucky
L
52-97

2014
Hampton
No. 12
No. 5 Michigan State
L
61−91

 
Prairie View A&M
No. 16
No. 1 Connecticut
L
44–87

2013
Hampton
No. 15
No. 2 Duke
L
51−67

 
Prairie View A&M
No. 16
No. 1 Baylor
L
40–82

2012
Hampton
No. 16
No. 1 Stanford
L
51−73

 
Prairie View A&M
No. 16
No. 1 Connecticut
L
47–83

2011
Hampton
No. 13
No. 4 Kentucky
L
62−66 (OT)

 
Prairie View A&M
No. 16
No. 1 Baylor
L
30–66

2010
Hampton
No. 15
No. 2 Duke
L
37−72

 
Southern
No. 16
No. 1 Connecticut
L
39-95

2009
North Carolina A&T
No. 14
No. 3 Florida State
L
71–83

 
Prairie View A&M
No. 16
No. 1 Oklahoma
L
47–76

2008
Coppin State
No. 16
No. 1 Maryland
L
66–80

 
Jackson State
No. 15
No. 2 LSU
L
32–66

2007
Delaware State
No. 15
No. 2 Vanderbilt
L
47-62

 
Prairie View A&M
No. 16
No. 1 North Carolina
L
38–95

2006
Coppin State
No. 15
No. 2 Connecticut
L
54–77

 
Southern
No. 16
No. 1 Duke
L
27-96

2005
Alcorn State
No. 16
No. 1 Michigan State
L
41–73

 
Coppin State
No. 16
No. 1 North Carolina
L
62–97

2004
Hampton
No. 16
No. 1 Penn State
L
42−79

 
Southern
No. 16
No. 1 Texas
L
57-92

2003
Alabama State
No. 16
No. 1 Tennessee
L
43-95

 
Hampton
No. 15
No. 2 Texas
L
46−90

2002
Norfolk State
No. 16
No. 1 Duke
L
48-95

 
Southern
No. 14
No. 3 Colorado
L
61-88

2001
Alcorn State
No. 16
No. 1 Notre Dame
L
49–98

 
Howard
No. 15
No. 2 Iowa State
L
61–100

2000
Alcorn State
No. 16
No. 1 Louisiana Tech
L
53–95

 
Hampton
No. 16
No. 1 Connecticut
L
45−116

1999
Florida A&M
No. 15
No. 2 Clemson
L
45-76

 
Grambling State
No. 12
No. 5 Alabama
L
68-80

1998
Howard
No. 15
No. 2 North Carolina
L
71–91

 
Grambling State
No. 16
No. 1 Texas Tech
L
75-87

1997
Howard
No. 16
No. 1 Stanford
L
59–111

 
Grambling State
No. 14
No. 3 Tennessee
L
54-91

1996
Howard
No. 16
No. 1 Connecticut
L
63–94

 
Grambling State
No. 16
No. 1 Stanford
L
43-82

1995
Florida A&M
No. 16
No. 1 Tennessee
L
59-96

 
Jackson State
No. 15
No. 2 Penn State
L
62–75

 
Tennessee State
No. 12
No. 5 Oregon State
L
75-88 (OT)

1994
North Carolina A&T
No. 16
No. 1 Tennessee
L
37–111

 
Grambling State
No. 15
No. 2 Vanderbilt
L
85-95

 
Tennessee State
No. 13
No. 4 Southern Miss
L
72-86

1984
Cheyney
No. 3
No. 6 Maryland
W
92-64

 
Cheyney
No. 3
No. 2 North Carolina
W
73-72

 
Cheyney
No. 3
No. 1 Old Dominion
W
80-71

 
Cheyney
No. 3
No. 3 Tennessee
L
71-80

1983
Cheyney
No. 1
No. 8 Monmouth
W
107-35

 
Cheyney
No. 1
No. 5 Penn State
L
72-73

 
Jackson State
No. 8
No. 8 Middle Tennessee State
L
61–64

 
South Carolina State
No. 8
No. 8 La Salle
W
85-67

1983
South Carolina State
No. 8
No. 1 Tennessee
L
51-86

1982
Cheyney
No. 2
No. 7 Auburn
W
75-64

 
Cheyney
No. 2
No. 3 NC State
W
74-61

 
Cheyney
No. 2
No. 4 Kansas Sate
W
93-71

 
Cheyney
No. 2
No. 2 Maryland
W
76-66

 
Cheyney
No. 2
No. 1 Louisiana Tech
L
76-62

 
Howard
No. 8
No. 1 Long Beach State
L
57–95

 
Jackson State
No. 7
No. 2 Tennessee
L
56–72

Stan Becton joined NCAA.com in 2021 and has since served as a college football, FCS football, track and field, cross country and HBCU beat reporter. He has covered numerous NCAA championship events, including the FCS Championship, DI Track & Field Championships and Men’s Frozen Four. Additionally, he has covered the College Football Playoff and HBCU sporting events like the Celebration Bowl, MEAC/SWAC Challenge and Legacy Classic. Stan graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, earning a degree in Professional Writing and playing football as a five-year letterman. You can follow him on Twitter @stan_becton.

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