Unlike the men's tournament, the four top seeds on the women's side have been pretty clear for a while now. UConn, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Baylor have three losses between them (and the losses for Notre Dame and South Carolina were to UConn). So, the only real question is whether somebody else can crash the Women's Final Four.
Well, that and if Breanna Stewart will truly go down as the greatest player in the history of women's college basketball. Before she becomes the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft by the Storm and wins an Olympic gold with Team USA in Rio, she'll go for another undefeated season, her fourth straight national title, and her fourth straight Final Four Most Outstanding Player. If that all does happen, I don't see how you can make an argument that any player had a better college career than Stewart.
Of course, it's not a foregone conclusion that UConn will win the national title, even if it seems like that. When Brittany Griner was a senior, Baylor was the defending champions and the clear No. 1 overall team...and instead of a coronation, Baylor was upset in the Sweet 16 by Shoni Schimmel and Louisville. While this UConn team is much better than that Baylor squad, and there isn't a team in the country that's on their level, the image of Griner walking off the court after that Louisville game is still there in my head. I don't want to see Breanna Stewart end her college career the same way.
As for everybody else, a lot of people have been talking about Tennessee and whether or not the Lady Vols will even make the tournament. Tennessee has played in every NCAA Tournament, and I fully expect that streak to continue. They've absolutely struggled by Tennessee standards this season, even dropping out of the Top 25 at one point, but are they one of the 32 best available at-large teams? Yes they are. Will Tennessee contend for the national title? Probably not. Will they be in the tournament? Absolutely.
With all that out of the way, it really comes down to figuring out what order the other three No. 1 seeds go in. Baylor's the one that lost to somebody other than UConn, so they're No. 4 overall and get the Huskies in the Final Four. That leaves Notre Dame and South Carolina. The order doesn't really matter, since they'd face each other before one has to face UConn again, but I'm making UConn No. 2 and South Carolina No. 3.
Which leaves us with a bracket that looks something like this...
BRIDGEPORT
Storrs: 16-Robert Morris at 1-Connecticut, 8-Seton Hall vs. 9-Duquesne
Tallahassee: 13-Chattanooga at 4-Florida State, 5-DePaul vs. 12-Florida Gulf Coast
Lexington: 14-Troy at 3-Kentucky, 6-Arizona State vs. 11-Iowa
College Park: 15-Buffalo at 2-Maryland, 7-Georgia vs. 10-Kansas State
DALLAS
Waco: 16-Idaho at 1-Baylor, 8-Washington vs. 9-Vanderbilt
College Station: 13-Albany at 4-Texas A&M, 5-Oklahoma State vs. 12-Army West Point
Coral Gables: 14-South Dakota State at 3-Miami, 6-Florida vs. 11-Indiana
Corvallis: 15-Central Arkansas at 2-Oregon State, 7-BYU vs. 10-Colorado State
LEXINGTON
Notre Dame: 16-Alabama State at 1-Notre Dame, 8-George Washington vs. 9-Missouri
Stanford: 13-Hawaii at 4-Stanford, 5-Mississippi State vs. 12-Green Bay
Columbus: 14-Liberty at 3-Ohio State, 6-Tennessee vs. 11-Middle Tennessee
Austin: 15-Iona at 2-Texas, 7-St. John's vs. 10-James Madison
SIOUX FALLS
Columbia: 16-North Carolina A&T at 1-South Carolina, 8-South Florida vs. 9-NC State
East Lansing: 13-Northern Iowa at 4-Michigan State, 5-Syracuse vs. 12-Penn
Los Angeles: 14-New Mexico State at 3-UCLA, 6-West Virginia vs. 11-San Francisco
Louisville: 15-Belmont at 2-Louisville, 7-Oklahoma vs. 10-Purdue
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