ESPN's women's bracket contest draws massive increase in participation

While the state of the amenities at the women's NCAA Tournament in San Antonio relative to the athletes' male counterparts has sparked conversations about inequity in amateur sports, public interest in women's collegiate basketball appears to be on the rise.

The ESPN Women's Tournament Challenge has seen a 103% increase in participation over the 2019 edition - a new record for the company's bracket contest, according to ESPN Press Room's Kevin Ota.

After Round of 64 action concluded Monday, only two perfect brackets remained from ESPN's initial field of entrants - meaning both participants correctly predicted the three first-round upsets: No. 13 Wright State over No. 4 Arkansas, No. 12 Belmont over No. 5 Gonzaga, and No. 11 BYU over No. 6 Rutgers.

There was no NCAA Tournament held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.