Women’s March Madness bracket features several big-time contenders

• The NCAA women’s tournament features several contenders for the national title. The list includes top seeds: UCLA, South Carolina, USC and Texas.
• The second seeds in each region equally deserve contender status: Duke, NC State, TCU and UConn.
• Are there any dark horse or Cinderella teams that can shake up the bracket?

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The NCAA women’s tournament gets underway with the First Four Wednesday, March 19, and the bracket is certainly top-heavy. Several teams can claim contender status before tip-off.

Who has contender status in the women’s tournament?

The first two regions feature the top overall seed, UCLA, and the defending national champion, South Carolina. They may eventually have to contend with a pair of ACC schools—No. 2 seeds NC State and Duke, among other challengers.

Regions three and four feature Texas and Southern Cal as the top seeds. Those teams were runners-up in the Southeastern Conference and the Big 10, respectively.

But don’t overlook the two seeds in those regions because the star power is certainly there. Look no further than UConn’s Paige Bueckers or TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, who sums up her team’s chances quite well after the Horned Frogs won the Big 12 tournament.

“It takes a team that’s hot at the right time, and I think we kind of have that going for us. Like they said, we were the only team that won the regular season and followed through and won the conference championship,” Van Lith said. “It’s really about who is hot, and once you win the first couple games, it’s kind of about luck and if you get a few calls here and there. So, we’re hot, we’re gonna keep staying hot, and we’re gonna do whatever we can to keep that edge.”

Can Ivy League champion Harvard make some noise?

After the top eight teams, there are bound to be some bracket-busters and dark horses capable of shaking things up. Perhaps a team like the No. 10 seed Harvard, who recently won their first-ever Ivy League championship. Forward Harmoni Turner leads the way and has averaged a whopping 31 points per game in her last four.

“We’ve just been knocking on the door every year that I’ve been here, and it’s just such an incredible feeling to finally, finally get to the top of the hill and be champions,” Harvard head coach Carrie Moore said after winning the Ivy League tournament.

Who are some other dark horse teams in the bracket?

Vanderbilt is another possibility, making its second straight appearance. They’re a No. 7 seed who could meet Duke in the second round. The Commodores are led by the backcourt duo of Mikayla Blakes and Khamil Pierre—having good guards typically means a chance at a long tournament run.

The Washington Huskies were on the bubble during Selection Sunday but are in the Big Dance for the first time in eight years. They are an 11-seed and would meet No. 6 West Virginia in the second round. The Dawgs rank in the top 10 in the nation in field goal percentage and three-point percentage.

“I think the most important thing for us is, like, how good can we be is the question we keep asking our team, you know? We’re in every game, and in some games, we’ve really played exceptionally well,” head coach Tina Langley said. “I actually think we could have played better, and I think our team thinks we could have played better, even in wins. And so we’re just kind of just tapping the surface of it right now.”

Many of the teams in this women’s tournament feel the same way as Langley, and over the next few weeks, we’ll see who has the juice to take down one of the favorites and shock the world.