Women’s basketball teams finally will be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March just like the men have for years under a plan approved Wednesday at the NCAA convention.

For the first time, women’s basketball teams will earn NCAA Tournament performance pay, mirroring a system long in place for men’s teams.

The Oregon women's basketball team has held steady in most March Madness projections throughout the nonconference season and is still being seen as a bubble team now in the thick of conference play.

Vanderbilt women's basketball has seen its projected March Madness seed drop after a three-game losing streak. The Commodores (14-4, 1-3 SEC) lost by double digits to Kentucky and Ole Miss. The team played more inspired against LSU on Monday night but still fell, 83-77.

NCAA members unanimously voted to introduce financial rewards — as it has for years with the men's tournament — starting this spring.

In a historic vote Wednesday at the NCAA convention in Nashville, the organization approved a plan to pay women's basketball teams for making the NCAA Tournament. Men's basketball teams have been reaping the benefits of the same revenue sharing plan for many years.

Beginning with the 2025 NCAA Tournament, women’s college basketball will finally receive financial “units,” just as the men’s teams have for years. Units are multi-million dollar payments the NCAA awards to conferences based on the number of games a given team plays in the March Madness tournament.