Columbus Irish to play in first round of NCAA tournament
South Bend, Indiana – The Notre Dame women’s basketball team will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on No. 11 Fairfield in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship.
Notre Dame enters the tournament with a 22-10 record on the season and 12-6 in ACC play. The Fighting Irish have won nine of their past 11 first-round games.
The last time the Irish were in the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, they won the 2018 national championship, beating UConn and Mississippi State in the Final Four and national championship games, respectively.
The winner of Notre Dame’s first-round game will face the first-round winner between No. 3 seed Ohio State and No. 14 Howard in the second round on Monday, March 23. The Irish will play in the Fort Worth area on Friday, March 27 or Saturday, March 28.
Notre Dame enters NCAA tournament
Notre Dame and Fairfield have met once before in program history, with the Irish defeating the Bucks 75-62 on December 28, 1987 in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
The Irish have won the national championship twice in program history, in 2001 and 2018.
Notre Dame has participated in the NCAA tournament 30 times before, with a record of 75 wins and 28 losses.
The Irish have now reached their final five NCAA Tournament games.
Notre Dame has a 26-4 all-time record in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The Irish have advanced to the Sweet 16 at least 21 times, including each of the last 14 appearances in the tournament.
This is the second time the Irish have been seeded sixth in the tournament, the last time being in 1997 when the team reached the semi-finals.
Notre Dame has advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four nine times and participated in seven national championship games.