March Madness: 7 biggest scenarios before the NCAA women’s tournament

UCLA and USC. South Carolina and Texas. Connecticut, Notre Dame and what would you even say Duke, NC State or TCU?

The parity of female university basketball is constantly developing, creating an increasingly large basin of teams which could realistically achieve a national title. While in the past years, there were one or two teams dominating the competition, the 2024-25 season is a meli-melo of the best teams that all fight. No one has managed a clean scan.

As the competition goes up, the matches between the support become greater. Could South Carolina take revenge after its defeat against the UCLA, or their placement in the same Doom medium for a rehearsal? Could the second year JUJU WATKINS and the USC spoil the last chance of UCONN Paige BUECKERS in a national championship?

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With the selection of Sunday a few days, here are scenarios to watch go for the NCAA tournament.

The last chance of Paige Bueckers in a national title?

The Paige Bueckers era in Uconn has not left as planned. Rather than several national titles in his name, the former recruit n ° 1 always aims to her first after the injuries hit the program in recent seasons.

It will probably be her last shot because she indicated that she will enter the draft of the WNBA, where she should go n ° 1 to the Dallas wings. The fifth year Redshirt senior has an additional year of eligibility.

Azzi Fudd could also play the last games of his collegial career. The best recruit in this year’s promotion has an available redeshirt, but it worked on a senior day in case it decides to participate in WNBA. The shooting goalkeeper has played 28 career games this season after playing 42 in three combined seasons. It is the most cohesion that Bueckers and Fudd have had together, and they are joined by a third recruit n ° 1 in the recruit Sarah Strong.

The National Huskies champion of 11 times has not raised the trophy since 2016, when Breanna Stewart finished a four out of four race.

The Southern Carolina Dynasty

While South Carolina is the modern dynasty with four consecutive final ovens and three national titles in three years, the Gamecocks have not yet equaled their predecessors by repeating.

The USC, Tennessee and Uconn are the only programs to win consecutive titles, a feat that becomes even more difficult as the teams improve across the country. After the Ja Wilson led the South Carolina to the first title of the program in 2017, the Gamecocks took an early outing in Uconn during the regional final of the following year. After winning everything behind the national player of the year Aliyah Boston in 2022, they remained undefeated until an upheaval for Iowa in the semi-finals the following season.

The current list, which was all part of the unbeaten championship team a year ago, has lost more games than the last three years combined. But they were in three of the country’s best teams at the UCLA, Texas and Uconn.

Chase of all time from Juju Watkins

Trojan horses did not have to count strongly on Watkins in its second season, and although its average plunged a few points, it is still second in the country on average and third in total points. The shooting goalkeeper is on the right track to break the record of 3,951 points from the Caitlin Clark NCAA a season ago.

Watkins set the first year record with 920 points on 34 games a season. She has 764 to 31 games before the NCAA tournament. With a maximum of six games and an average of 24.6 per game, she could add 147 points, which would bring her total season to 911 and her total career to 1831. Score at the same rate during the following two seasons, she would exceed Kelsey Plum from Washington (3,527 points) for second place on the list.

Clark scored 799 in the first year on 30 games. The regular season has been shortened given a late departure due to the cocovi-19 pandemic, and Iowa bowed from the NCAA tournament in the Sweet 16. It added 863 points (27 ppg) in the second year and 1055 points (27.8 ppg) as a junior in the Hawkeyes game. His last year propelled the leader of Indiana fever to the record with 1,234 points (31.6 points per game) on 39 games.

Big Ten’s best chance in a rare national championship

The national NCAA championships were rare in the Big Ten. The 1999 Purdue team is the only one to win one under the Big Ten banner. Maryland and the USC have won while playing elsewhere.

The addition of the UCLA and the USC gives the conference more likely in the Final Four posts, and potentially an All-Big Ten national championship match if the support works. It would be the fourth meeting between the two Los Angeles schools this season if it happens. USC leads, 2-1.

The SEC leads all the conferences with 12 national championships, and the southern Caroline head coach Dawn Staley has credited the conference to help them prepare to win their three titles. Gamecocks are pretenders to the national title, as well as Texas. The conference is on a three -year -old sequence winner of the title (Two by South Carolina, one by LSU).

Walk-ons’ rebound in winning titles

There is a season, TCU crashed into an undo the outfit of open tests to complete its season. The horns in horns finished 6-10 in the Big 12, lost in the quarter-finals of the conference and had left the photo of the NCAA tournament.

It has been completely reversal since then. Sedona Prince, a 6-inch 7-inch center that started her career in Oregon in 2019, returned from a hand injury while head coach Mark Campbell added six players, including the fifth year goalkeeper Hailey Van Lith, of the transfer portal. TCU (31-3, 16-2) won the titles of the regular season and the Big 12 tournament, and scored victories without a signature conference against Notre Dame and NC State at the start of the season. The horns frogs are projected like a seed n ° 2.

For Prince and Lith, it’s the last chance to win a national championship and show their match before the WNBA draft. Everyone had bumpy paths – prince with injuries and Van Lith’s season in LSU – and could bring more history to TCU this month. The program made the tournament for the last time in 2010. In nine appearances, it never exceeded the second round.

The collapse of the end of Notre Dame’s season

Notre Dame broke into the national title with victories outside the conference on the powers and favorites of the USC (Net 6), Texas (net 3) and Uconn (net 1). The Irish won their first 14 ACS games on average 26 points.

Then the real test came, and they flicker. They abandoned three of their last five, including consecutive defeats for the second time this season, and have shared the regular season title with NC State. In the Demi-Demi-Demi-Choses, they were rebounded by Duke and looked at each other. The Blue Devils won the Tournament title on NC State.

The duo in the rear area of ​​Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles fell in rhythm, and the high-level post-match is not there despite the return of the fifth year striker Maddy Westbeld. They should always stay on the seeded line n ° 2 and will certainly organize matches in the first and second round, which gives them the opportunity to restore their confidence, their attack with a strong score and its robust strength.

These first victories do not mean anything in March.

Injuries to look before the tournament

The injuries will have an impact on a few teams before March.

LSU relies strongly on his three greats from Flau’jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams, who combine for 54.6 points per game. Two have treated injuries to end the season.

Johnson sat the dry tournament to rest while treating Tibia splints. In the defeat in the semi-finals against Texas, she helped take away the senior striker Aneesah Morrow, who suffered an injury to the left foot in the third quarter. Head coach Kim Mulkey said Morrow “aggravated a sprained in the middle of the foot” and will be ready for the NCAA tournament. The team has more than a week off before playing again.

The Kansas State went to No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 survey, but was not the same without the senior center of 6 feet 6 inch Ayoka Lee. Lee suffered an injury to the end of January which, according to the program, would hold it about four weeks. She returned to this period and played five minutes against Kansas on February 22. The top scorer of the Wildcats has not returned since.

Maryland has lost the key reserve BRI McDaniel for the season (ACL) and plays without entirely healthy Shyanne sellers. The sellers injured their knee in January and play it while worsening it several times. The WNBA prospect did not advance as well, putting the terps in upset territory.