Alexa Philip
Alexa Philip
ESPN
Women’s College Basketball and the WNBA previously covered UConn and WNBA Connecticut Sun, and is a Hartford Coolant Stanford alumni and Baltimore native, gaining more experience with Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquilers
Charlie Cream
Charlie Cream
ESPN.com
Charlie Cream predicts the women’s NCAA tournament bracket on ESPN.com.
Three days after March, the madness began.
Six teams featured in Thursday’s Top 16 were lost on Sunday. They defeated Tennessee in Knoxville, Virginia, and won Knoxville, Virginia and Ole Miss, who dominate Baton Rouge LSU, and defeated Knoxville, Virginia. Sarah Te-Biasu’s overtime buzzer beater wasn’t just a great winning shot. They could have reverted Maryland to the conversation to host the NCAA Tournament Game and then smashed Ohio State.
The Power 4 regular season title has also been decided over the weekend.
South Carolina and Texas shared the SEC Crown, but a coin flip by conference committee member Greg Sankey determined GameCocks would be the number one seed in the league tournament. NC State and Notre Dame also shared the ACC title, with TCU kicking out Baylor and winning their first Big 12 Championship.
Saturday’s action was equally eventful as USC solidified its status as a contender for the NCAA title by wiping out the regular season series against UCLA to win the Big Ten title.
And to think that the best march hasn’t arrived yet.
Tuesday’s Champion Week tips and NCAA Tournament bids are scheduled to be punched over the next two weeks, and we’ll look at the biggest questions that will affect women’s NCAA Tournament brackets.
0:34
Marcus Freeman loves this Olivia Miles buzzer beater
Olivia Miles netted the clutch 3 for Notre Dame to finish the third quarter with Louisville, and Marcus Freeman expressed his appreciation.
Which teams protect the No. 1 seed?
Charlie Cream: Texas, USC, UCLA and South Carolina are the top seeds in ESPN’s updated parentheses throughout Sunday’s game. However, no team has completely locked up a rare No. 1 seed heading into Champion Week. However, Texas and USC look like a good bet. Each of them will be able to secure their top spot by reaching their respective conference tournament finals, and reaching the SEC semi-finals should be enough for the longhorn. If both avoided a major upset earlier this week, they will be one seeded.
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Also, UCLA is no, as long as the Bruins travel to the Big Ten title game. You should be able to hold one seed. But if they’re not enough in the finals, they’ll fall off the top line – and if Notre Dame wins the ACC Tournament Championship.
South Carolina may need to win the SEC tournament if both Fighting Irish and UConn win the title. Gamecocks resume – 13 Quadrant 1, leading the NCAA, wins – one seed screams, but the committee placing it on two lines in the top 16 on Thursday revealed the vulnerability of South Carolina. With less competition to boost their case, the Husky will have to suffer a stir or two to make their previous team jump on the top seed.
Which teams will host the first and second rounds?
Cream: If any Sunday results prove something, that means that the situation for species 3 and 4 is still evolving. Five of the eight teams on these two lines lost their games on the final day of the regular season. Currently, anyone from 11th (Oklahoma) to 20th (Baylor) overall could potentially enter and exit the top 16 selection on Sunday.
0:50
Highlights: Georgia builds momentum with the upset of 11th Tennessee
Mia Woolfolk leads the Lady Bulldogs with 20 points, while De’mauri Flournoy adds 18 to earn a 72-69 victory in the Lady Vols.
The results of the SEC tournament will determine a lot about which teams will host the NCAA Tournament Game. The SEC is key to SEC teams that involves seven teams in the top 16 and eighth teams (Tennessee) looking out and reaching the semi-finals of each tournament. The team reaches the semi-finals and hosts.
The Crimson Tide faces LSU and Ole Miss faces Texas in the SEC quarterfinals. They become games to watch. Kansas could be required to beat West Virginia in the big 12 quarter of the 12th quarter to stay on top. The Buckeyes and Terrapin are lined up to face Michigan and Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
0:24
TCU hangs up on Buzzer to win the program’s first big 12 titles
Baylor’s final two-second heave secured TCU’s first Big 12 regular season title.
How will injuries affect Champion Week and NCAA Tournament Seeds?
Alexa Philippou: We infiltrated a lot of injuries last weekend, especially among the confusing teams. Tennessee lost star Talaysia Cooper midway through the regular season finale, but rocked out without trapping standouts Alyssa Ustby and Leniya Kelly (both said Tar Heels coach Courtney Vangart would play in the NCAA Tournament).
LSU and Baylor dropped their respective contests without key scorers Flau’jae Johnson (Shin, misses the SEC Tournament) and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (days, knees). And Kansas doesn’t have top player Ayokari yet, who has dealt with foot injuries for most of the season and is planning to return to the NCAA tournament. The availability and on-court productivity of these players not only affect how Champion Week pans out, but also the respective ceilings of the team when a big dance arrives.
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Cream: Johnson is the biggest name on the list, and Sunday’s outing shows how LSU will be affected when Johnson, Anesa Morrow and Mikaira Williams’ Big 3 are not around. The Tigers once looked like a second seeded rock, but that’s not the case anymore. If LSU can’t figure out how to win without Johnson, then the number 3 seed looks much more likely.
The same is true for North Carolina. The Tar Heels dropped two straight games. Sunday’s defeat to Virginia has damaged the hosts’ chances, and they’re struggling to fill the gap between the missing Ustby and Kelly. Without them, it seems likely that you will lose the best four types.
Kansas also appears to be running out of gas without Lee. The Audi con man in Iowa torched the Wildcats with 36 points internally on Sunday during a loss that could ultimately cost Kansas the host spot if the Wildcats don’t turn back their recent three losses in their last four games. Getting Lee back is the best way to do it.
2:01
Iowa’s big victory will disappear Audi con artists
Audi Crooks drops 36 points and 10 rebounds in a blowout victory between Iowa and Kansas.
What is at risk in the bubble?
Cream: The bubble is thin throughout the season and remains so without confusion at some small meetings. Virginia Tech and Arizona are the only teams currently on the wrong side of the bubble. Their spot on the field feels safer as Washington and Iowa each achieved big wins on Sunday. Minnesota, Princeton, Harvard, Hokies and Wildcats have now become five teams in three spots.
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Ivy League currently has three teams on the field, but that’s a tenuous hold. Two of the three are guaranteed to lose another game during Ivy Madness. Princeton and Harvard will likely match up in the semi-finals. Another crimson loss – they’re 1-3 against the Tigers and Columbia in the regular season – they’ll probably knock them out. If either Virginia Tech or Arizona wins a quarter-final match in the tournament, they’ll be on the field – and perhaps even knocking out the loser of the Ivy Madness title game.
Golden Gophers are wildcards. They were in their 30s safe on the field for two months with a consistently solid online ranking. However, they have been in a slump recently, with Minnesota’s recent major victory coming through Indiana on February 9th. A first-day defeat to Washington in the Big Ten Tournament could knock out the Gophers and open the door to grab the spot.
The Big Ten best case scenario is Minnesota’s victory in that game, almost guaranteeing results from both the record 13 teams from the Big Ten on the field, the new Big Ten size and the other viable NCAA tournament contenders in the Big East and the mid-major results.
What kind of meetings are bid stolen goods?
Cream: Richmond in the Atlantic 10 and South Dakota in the Summit League will have NCAA tournaments regardless of what happens in the conference tournament. But these are the only sure-fire bid theft leagues.
Other teams dominating the conference – UNLV (Mountain West), Fairfield (MAAC), James Madison (Sunbelt), are included in the bubble mix in the event of a loss, but do not bring strong resumes. These three are totals between 2-9 in one quadrant game (JMU accounts for both wins). Their status may depend on how quickly or late they lose in their conference tournaments, and what happens in their league to Virginia Tech and Arizona.
0:45
No. 4 Numbers behind USC’s victory over the second UCLA
Check out the numbers behind USC’s victory over UCLA to win the regular season Big Ten title.
Who will win Player of the Year?
Philippou: Similar to the NCAA title race, Player of the Year conversations are open for most of the season. However, it is possible that USC’s Juju Watkins has emerged as the top runner this past weekend.
Watkins continues his superstar trajectory as a sophomore, possibly leading the Trojan to a first seed for the second season in a row in the NCAA Tournament. Her efficiency has increased and sales have declined. Her ability to read the opponent’s defenses has grown. And with the extra help around her, she can use herself even more defensively. But a pair of her sensational performances against UCLA over the past few weeks – she averaged 34 points in those games with 46% shooting (50% with 3 pointers) and made her impact feel in every area of the floor, but it’s impossible to ignore. She was also the force of USC’s other marquee victory in Connecticut (25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks) in December.
Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo and UCLA junior Lauren Betts were key competitions for Watkins. But Betts shook his head from his head against Watkins and the Trojan horse, but the Hidalgo incident may have suffered from regular season stretches. Entering Sunday, the Irish security guards shot 29.5% in the previous five games, with Notre Dame still apart from consecutive losses, but did not win the ACC completely. However, voters may still hold their weight in this discussion next week, as performances in conference tournaments may shake up.
