Women's flag football could get its own NCAA Tournament by 2028

Women’s flag football is on the fast track to championship status. On Tuesday, the sport took a meaningful step forward after receiving a formal recommendation to become a championship-level sport, which could pave the way for the first official women’s flag football NCAA Tournament as early as the spring of 2028. The NCAA Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact voted at its spring meeting to recommend Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add a National Collegiate Flag Football Championship.

That’s the same committee that oversees the NCAA’s Emerging Sports for Women program, which added flag football back in January . "The college-level growth in flag football has been significant,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement. “And this recommendation reflects that.

With the sport headed to the 2028 Olympics, the timing couldn't be better for women who might not have had a path to compete at the college level before. That's worth celebrating. " For a sport to graduate from the Emerging Sports for Women program to championship status, 40 schools must sponsor it at a varsity level and meet the sport's minimum competition and participant requirements.

Since it was added to the Emerging Sports for Women program, flag football has grown leaps and bounds at the collegiate level. Nearly 20 Division I programs — including one at the Power 4 level, Nebraska — have announced their intentions to launch teams at the varsity level by 2028. More at the Division II and III levels — from the Atlantic East to Conference Carolinas — played full varsity seasons this year, complete with conference championship games.