The Lady Vols are coming to Birmingham this week. So are the defending national champions, the Gamecocks. The Tar Heels, Blue Devils, Terrapins, Longhorns, Horned Frogs and the Fighting Irish will all be here.

It’s women’s basketball at the highest level, as eight of the nation’s top teams converge on at Legacy Arena from Friday through Sunday for March Madness.

From Friday through Monday, March 28-31, Birmingham will host the Regional bracket of the NCAA Women’s March Madness Basketball Tournament at the Legacy Arena.

Those teams include, by seeding: (1) South Carolina vs. (4) Maryland; (2) Duke vs. (3) North Carolina; (2) TCU vs. (3) Notre Dame; and (1) Texas vs. (5) Tennessee.

That’s half of the Sweet Sixteen. The other eight teams are playing in Spokane, Washington.

That means eight teams, their coaches, staff and fans will be staying in hotels and eating at restaurants in Birmingham.

“With the defending national champions and No. 2 (ranked) South Carolina, as well as other top-ranked teams, we expect large crowds to travel to Birmingham and fill Legacy Arena for four days,” said David Galbaugh, vice president of sports sales and marketing for the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. He said the bureau projects a $12 million economic impact on the metro area.

“In 2023, hosting the NCAA Men’s Basketball first and second rounds was an incredible, impactful event for Birmingham, and we expect the same for the Women’s Regional — as a nationally televised event, it shines a spotlight on our city, reinforces our reputation as a sports destination, and it creates significant impact for the local economy,” Galbaugh said.

The women’s Final Four games will be played April 4 in Tampa, with the championship game on April 6.

“The interest in the women’s game is higher than it was when we were in the bidding process,” said Tad Snider, executive director of the BJCC.

More than 30,000 tickets have been sold so far, he said.

“It’s a great bracket,” Snider said. “The ticket sales have outpaced Spokane by a significant amount. It shows the excitement in the region. We’re going to have the arena filled. The energy inside and the experience is going to be fantastic.”

City officials believe they can build off this weekend’s expected success.

“Any time we’re able to host a large-scale event like this in Birmingham, and pull it off in a safe and effective way, it’s a huge win,” said Birmingham City Council member Hunter Williams, chair of the Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

“It has a snowball effect,” Williams said. “This helps us build our resume because we’re able to show that we have the capacity to host major events and show people a great time. We learned a lot about intergovernmental cooperation during the World Games and how important that is to work together on submitting bids rather than working in siloes.

“Sports and tourism has become a big part of our local economy and we’re going to continue working with all our regional partners — the BJCC, the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau, the County and others — to keep this momentum going.”