As March Madness kicks off, all eyes are on the court for the next two weeks—but don’t discount the ladies. These teams are stacked with strong women in this year’s Div. I Basketball NCAA championship game, and you should be watching them, too.
With 68 teams in the women’s NCAA tournament vying for the championship, Selection Sunday told us who would be holding the top seed spots across regions, including the no. 1 spot—held by UCLA, repping the SoCal region along with USC. The other two one-seed spots are held by South Carolina and Texas, both Birmingham region teams. The winner will be decided over the course of the next three weekends.
Thirty teams are automatically entered into the March Madness bracket by merit, and the remaining 34 are picked by the Div. I Women’s basketball committee. This is based on their performance during the regular season. This same committee is who “seeds” the teams, a double entendre that denotes who are the top dogs, as that determines where they are “planted” in the bracket. This is what’s announced on Selection Sunday, where the committee asserted the Bruins as the ones to watch out for.
The women’s First Four games kick off this week (March 19-20), with the winners from each game making it through to the first round, which begins Friday. First-round games (March 21-22) and second-round games (March 23-24) will be hosted by the top four seeds in each of the four regions.
The “blue chip” teams (teams composed of equal parts four-star players and five-star players) are LSU, UCLA, UConn, South Carolina, Louisville, and TCU, the latter of whom could make some surprising dubs, as they’re a no. 2 seed, and their best player, Hailey Van Lith, is a transfer who played for LSU last year.
Without further ado, here’s what you need to know about the NCAA’s top (female) ballers and their teams.
Top teams (and players) to watch
Caitlin Clark, the people’s princess of the NCAA, has now joined the WNBA, meaning last year’s star will not make an appearance on the court this time around. The question is: will viewers still be locked in to Iowa? They’ve lost ten regular season games, compared to seven from their first-match competitors, the Murray State Racers. Murray State is also an 11 seed compared to the Hawkeyes’ no. 6. Could this dim record compared to last year’s win streak be chalked up to the departure of Clark? Only time will tell for these ladies.
Paige Bueckers is the star of UConn, and she could’ve gone to the WNBA too, but decided to stay in Connecticut. Bueckers will be one to watch, and if they make it up to the top, she’s sure to be responsible. While they’re a gritty team with some powerhouses like freshman Sarah Strong, it’s a toss-up as to whether this two-seed team will take home the crown—which has only happened to four other teams of their rank in the past.
South Carolina won 7 consecutive games this season and took home 4 NCAA championships in 8 years. Their coach, Dawn Staley, played in the WNBA and won three gold medals with the US Olympic team. The Gamecocks only lost a few games in the regular season and went undefeated last year as a one-seed. They’re a strong group with freshman Joyce Edwards and sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley leading the charge—two beasts on the court. Some think they were snubbed by not getting first seed, as they historically have, but others might see it as a chance for them to prove themselves all the way to the top.
UCLA, the overall no. 1 seed, lost to their neighbors at USC twice, but beat them in the Big10 tournament championship, their first conference championship since 2006. Lauren Betts is a soon-to-be dynasty kid, whose sister is playing on the Bruins starting next year. They’re tight on both defense and offense. ESPN says their shot blocking is strong, but will it be enough to defeat their rivals if it comes down to it?
Notre Dame is the underdog among these, with ESPN starlets Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo, but are those two players enough to carry the team to the top? The Irish have three ranked losses in the past five outings, but they hit at a high clip from three at 40%, which is damn impressive for a three-seed team. The Fighting Irish will be playing Stephen F. Austin, a 14-seed team, in their first match-up. 14 different three-seed teams have ever made a Final Four appearance—will the Irish make it 15?
Juju Watkins is the crown jewel of USC, the team that beat fellow Californian first-seed UCLA twice in the regular season. Watkins has killer stats compared to other star players (24.6 points per game) and Kiki Iriafen isn’t far behind, with 18.2 points per game. They’ve only lost twice, in the regular season to Notre Dame and UCLA in the Big Ten tournament championship. Many have them as their top pick for champs, but we won’t know until Sweet 16 how likely that is for the Trojans.
Texas is a team of hustlers who have only lost three games in the regular season. Their losses were handed to them by the Fighting Irish and Gamecocks, so if they go up against either of them in the Final Four, it’ll be a rematch worth your time.
The winner of UC San Diego vs. Southern will play UCLA, the no. 1 overall seed in the tournament, out of Region 1. The winner of Columbia vs. Washington will play West Virginia in Region 2.
The winner of High Point and William & Mary will advance to play Texas, and the winner of no. 11 seeds Iowa State and Princeton will advance to take on no. 6 seed Michigan.
The Final Four will be played in Tampa, Florida, with semifinal games April 4 (7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET). The championship game will tip off April 6 (3 p.m. ET). ABC will broadcast the title game for the third consecutive year.
Don’t be surprised if your bracket gets shot within the first two games. There are some mighty competitors, rivalries, and matchups that can only be predicted by a flip of the coin. Expect some major upsets from lower-seed teams with good stats, like North Carolina and Alabama.
Lastly, happy Women’s History Month. Women’s sports are here to stay, so tune in. You might miss a real-life Cinderella story otherwise.
