Conference Realignment, Star Power Shape Women’s March Madness

March Madness will be greatly impacted by the influence of conference realignment in the women’s NCAA tournament.

Three of the four No. 1 seeds are teams playing their first season in a new conference: Texas in the SEC and USC and UCLA in the Big Ten.

The USC-UCLA Big Ten women’s tournament championship game last Sunday averaged 1.44 million viewers on CBS, the second-most-watched iteration of the title game behind last year’s game featuring Caitlin Clark and Iowa against Nebraska, which drew 3.02 million. Meanwhile, the South Carolina–Texas SEC championship game averaged 1.3 million viewers on ESPN. The Gamecocks, defending national champions, are the fourth No. 1 seed.

Each of those championship games would be set for rematches in the Final Four if each top seed advances out of their quadrant.

Like They Never Left

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley became the highest-paid coach in the history of women’s college basketball after signing a contract extension in January that pays her $4 million annually. 

The Gamecocks, who enter the tournament with a 30–3 record, won’t be able to match their perfect 38–0 mark from last season, but are still the betting favorites to win the national championship at most sportsbooks.

However, No. 2 UConn is right behind South Carolina, and even favored at some books. A meeting between the Gamecocks and Huskies could only come in the national title game.

New Era for Iowa

Iowa has made it back to the NCAA tournament in its first season without Clark, earning a No. 6 seed.

It will be a much tougher road to the national championship game, where the Hawkeyes lost each of the past two tournaments as a No. 1 seed. Iowa will play No. 11 Murray State in the first round.