After months of thrilling college basketball action, the women’s NCAA tournament is finally here. For the first time, the bracket will feature 68 teams, as the full field was unveiled Sunday. Also new this year is the NCAA’s use of March Madness branding for the women’s event, a decision made after last year’s tournament highlighted a number inequities between the men’s and women’s competition. South Carolina, Stanford, North Carolina State and Louisville were named as No. 1 seeds on Sunday. But, as a number of conference tournaments showed, upsets could occur at any point. has everything you need to help fill out your bracket.
Don’t be fooled by the Gamecocks dropping the SEC tournament final to Kentucky; South Carolina is fully deserving of being the No. 1 team in this year’s tournament and the headliner in the Greensboro region. Sporting the country’s top defense, the Gamecocks allow five fewer points per 100 possessions than Stanford, who has the No. 2 unit in the country. And while South Carolina’s offense has at-times struggled, as was especially apparent in the fourth quarter of its final two SEC tournament games, it features a number of versatile and dynamic players, namely star forward Aliyah Boston and guards Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson, capable of breaking down different types of opposing defenses.
South Carolina also comes into March Madness knowing it can defeat a number of the field’s other top teams, considering it did as much during the regular season. Among other contenders they’ve topped already include Connecticut, Maryland, Stanford, LSU and NC State. “Going into the NCAA tournament it doesn't feel good,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said after her team’s 64–62 loss to Kentucky. “But we've got a lot of feel-goods throughout the season that we'll draw on.” Their draw could feature a matchup between two of the best players in the sport, as Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and the No. 2 Hawkeyes loom large at the bottom of the draw, but it still would be relatively surprising to see the Gamecocks fall short of Minneapolis.
Stanford
Last year’s reigning champions, Stanford is eyeing its fourth title in school history as it begins its NCAA tournament run as the headliner of the Spokane region. The Cardinal are 27–3 on the season and have made the second weekend of the tournament every year since 2006-07. There’s no reason to expect that streak to end this time around as Stanford enters the draw having won 20 consecutive games, with just five of them being in single-digits.
The Cardinal feature the Pac-12 Player of the Year, in junior guard Haley Jones, and the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year as well, in sophomore forward Cameron Brink. But beyond the two individual standouts, the roster features great balance and versatility. Six players average more than 21 minutes per game and eight average 10 or more minutes per contest. They get contributions from their entire team, making them especially difficult to defeat. Blocking their way, however, could be No. 4 Maryland, No. 3 LSU and No. 2 Texas, the latter of whom already topped the Cardinal earlier this season.
NC State
After the Wolfpack took home their third ACC championship in as many seasons, coach Wes Moore said his team’s conference title was as rewarding and challenging as any his team had won. The reason, he explained, was he thought this year’s group went through a lull in the middle of January and into February. The doldrums of the season seem like a long time ago for NC State (29–3), the No. 1 seed in the Bridgeport region. The Wolfpack haven’t lost since Feb. 1 against Notre Dame and all three of their defeats this year came against conference foes.
NC State has the second-best offense in the country, per HerHoopsStats, at 116.5 points per 100 possessions, and possesses a number of talented players in both the front- and backcourt. No player, though, is more central to its success than senior center Elissa Cunane, who averaged 13.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game on 52.6% shooting from the field. Last year, Moore’s group made history, being named a No. 1 seed for the first time ever. It fell, however, in the Sweet 16 when No. 4 Indiana eked out a three-point win. Not since 1998 have the Wolfpack even made an Elite Eight, let alone a Final Four. This year’s path could include a dangerous Oklahoma team, the Big Ten tournament runner-up Indiana and Big East champion UConn, playing what will likely feel like a home game.
Louisville
The Cardinals likely moved back up to the No. 1 line after Baylor dropped the Big 12 championship game to Texas on Sunday. But a possible late change hours before the bracket release should take nothing away from what Louisville accomplished this season. After dropping its first game of the season to Arizona, it lost only three more times. The Cardinals defeated opponents by an average of 17.1 points per game this season, good enough for 10th in the nation. Both their offense and defense are also top-10 in the country, per HoopsStats.com.
It’s hard to overlook, however, that they have lost two of their last five games heading into the NCAA tournament, including on March 4 when they dropped their lone ACC tournament contest to Miami. Fourth-quarter struggles plagued them vs. the Hurricanes as they shot only two-of-nine from the field in the game’s final 10 minutes, scoring a mere seven points. The Wichita region features Baylor, Michigan and Tennessee, among others, creating a difficult road ahead. But the Cardinals have made the Elite Eight in the last three NCAA tournaments and could certainly make a second Final Four appearance since 2018.