Minnesota Women’s Basketball: Minneapolis to Host 2022 Women’s Final Four

On Monday afternoon the University of Minnesota and City of Minneapolis learned that their joint bid to host a NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four had been accepted, and the 2022 Women’s Final Four will take place at Target Center on April 1st and 3rd, 2022. It will be the second time that the Target Center has hosted the biggest event in NCAA Women’s basketball—they previously hosted the Final Four in 1995 won by—who else UConn.

The process had been ongoing for a good portion of 2018 with the U of M hosting the bid committee and Lindsay Whalen filming a video for the Minneapolis bid.

The event will be added to an already loaded NCAA Sports calendar in Minneapolis that began last spring and will now run through 2022. The U of M hosted both the men’s and women’s Frozen Four in 2018, and the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. The 2018 NCAA Volleyball Final Four will take place at Target Center this fall, US Bank Stadium will host the men’s basketball Final Four in April, and the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championship, Target Center will host a men’s basketball regional in 2021, and the 2021 NCAA men’s gymnastics championships will take place at the Pav,

Mark Coyle had the following statement in the release published by the U of M:

We are honored to serve as the host institution for the 2022 Women’s Final Four. Minnesota has a long-standing tradition of hosting marquee NCAA championships, and we are excited that the Women’s Final Four is coming back to Minneapolis for the first time since 1995. The 2022 championship will have extra meaning, as it will be the 50th anniversary of Title IX. We look forward to crowning a champion, while also celebrating the sport and this landmark anniversary.”

The NCAA also awarded three other Women’s Final Fours in 2021 to San Antonio, 2023 to Dallas, and 2024 to Cleveland.

Here is to hoping that somehow Lindsay Whalen can loft her Gopher team to a dream season in 2022!