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INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship Subcommittee selected the 29 teams that will compete in the 2026 tournament, naming Northwestern the overall No. 1 seed after a 15-3 season and its sixth Big Ten Conference title. Northwestern entered with the nation's best RPI and strength of schedule and carries wins over North Carolina and Maryland. Defending national champion North Carolina (16-1) earned the No. 2 seed after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships. Maryland is the No. 3 seed at 16-3, with the third-best RPI and victories over seven teams ranked in the top 20 by RPI. The top three seeds received first-round byes. INDIANAPOLIS — Johns Hopkins is the No. 4 seed at 14-4, Stony Brook is No. 5 (17-2), Navy No. 6 (18-1), Michigan No. 7 (12-6) and Colorado No. 8 (14-3). The eight seeded teams will host first- and second-round campus games Friday, May 8 and Sunday, May 10, with four quarterfinal games set for Thursday, May 14; first- and second-round games will stream on ESPN+, and quarterfinals will air on ESPNU. The semifinal games will be played at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Illinois, hosted by Northwestern, and shown on ESPNU Friday, May 22 at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET, with the championship airing on ESPN Sunday, May 24 at noon. Fifteen conferences earned automatic berths and 14 at-large selections completed the field; the ACC and Big Ten each placed six teams. Davidson and Stony Brook are making their NCAA tournament debuts, Maryland leads the field with 41 tournament appearances, the 2026 field includes 22 teams that competed in 2025, and eight teams in the bracket account for 35 national titles (Maryland 14, Northwestern eight). Tickets and the complete bracket are available at ncaa.com.

Prepared by Emily Rhodes and reviewed by editorial team.