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The Madness is upon us! This is Part 1 of my Women’s College Basketball Conference Championship Game Extravaganza. A little wordy, but that’s okay. This will take you from Sunday, March 8th, through Tuesday, March 10th. Doing it this way allows me to A) get you the most up-to-date information and B) not overwhelm you with all the info I send your way. So enjoy and be on the lookout for Part 2 on Tuesday!

Sponsored by Ingles! And we know who is playing in the championship game! A 3-way tie in the regular season saw the Chattanooga Mocs win the tiebreaker for the 1-seed, and they have taken full advantage. Historically, they have been the powerhouse in the SoCon. Who helped build that powerhouse? Current NC State coach Wes Moore. As for the present, keep an eye on their guard and SoCon Player of the Year Caia Elisaldez. She and teammate Gianna Corbitt combined for 57 points in their semifinal win over Furman.

They’ll be facing off against the Cinderella Samford Bulldogs, who upset Wofford in the quarterfinals and shocked ETSU in the semis. Hey, they don’t call it March Madness for nothing. Need another reason to believe? They already beat the Mocs a couple of weeks ago.

Overall, a pretty wacky year considering the recent history of the conference. Duke won the regular season after starting the year so slowly that fans were helping coach Kara Lawson pack her bags. If that happens again, they’ll have to find space for the ACC Coach of the Year award she took home for the first time this season.

Also, the only non-senior in Notre Dame’s 8-woman rotation was ACC Player of the Year Hannah Hidalgo, yet they only managed to snag a 5-seed. A lot more question marks than answers in this one, which should make for an interesting tournament!

These weirdos with their 2:15 start time. Some heavy hitters here, most notably UCLA, which went undefeated in conference play during the regular season. They’re absolutely stacked, a national title contender, and all of their important players have played in at least 120 games over the course of their careers. Their big question marks heading into March are mental toughness and in-game adjustments. Keep an eye on both.

An absolute powerhouse of a conference, but one program has had a stranglehold on the conference tournament title. You already know who it is, but Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks have won 9 of the last 11 conference tournament titles. Can anyone take them down? What I’m about to say doesn’t sound real, but I did check multiple sources. Texas is the only SEC team to beat South Carolina since Kentucky upset the Gamecocks in the 2022 SEC Tournament. Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer also won a conference title during the Gamecocks’ reign when he was at Mississippi State in 2019.

Not sure if history repeats itself, but it’s worth noting that the last time Vandy was ranked this highly headed into the conference tournament, they won it. Current Athletic Director Candice Storey Lee was a senior on that 2002 team. All Vandy sports have taken off under her leadership, but the basketball team has been especially incredible. Shea Ralph, Mikayla Blakes, and Aubrey Galvan took home the SEC Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, and Freshman of the Year awards, respectively.

Could the state of South Dakota’s reign come to an end? The Jackrabbits of South Dakota State and the Coyotes of South Dakota have combined to win this tournament 16 out of the last 17 years. However, the other Dakota might have something to say about it this year. Avery Koenen averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds in conference play to lead North Dakota State to a 15-1 Summit League record as they earned the 1-seed in this tournament.

Who beat them? South Dakota State, of course. Their star, Brooklyn Meyer, has been one of the best mid-major players in the country the past 3 seasons. She averaged 22 points and 9 rebounds per game in conference play this season. The Jackrabbits won 7 in a row to end the regular season as they look to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the 4th consecutive year. They took down Oklahoma State last year before losing to eventual champion UConn.

Another hotly contested mid-major conference. A tiebreaker gave the #1 seed to Rhode Island over George Mason. Feels like we’ve been waiting for Rams coach Tammi Reiss to burst onto the national scene since she guest-starred on Sister, Sister. They have the 6th-best scoring defense in the country, allowing just under 54 points per game.

George Mason coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis is the longest tenured Black female head coach in women’s college hoops. Her co-regular season championship this year means she’s accomplished that feat at 3 different programs. Patriots junior Zahirah Walton is one of the better 2-way players in the conference.

Richmond, who earned an at-large bid last year, finished just a game out of the tiebreaker spot. They feature arguably the best mid-major prospect in the upcoming WNBA draft (assuming there is one!) in 2-time A-10 Player of the Year Maggie Doogan. She averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds on 51/42/91 splits in conference play. According to ESPN’s Bracketology, the Spiders are in line for another at-large bid, but they’re one of the last 4 in, so they need a strong showing in this tournament.

Have you heard this one before? A big-name transfer guard led TCU to the regular-season title on the way to conference player of the year honors. This time, it was Olivia Miles. Her 3-point shooting post-ACL tear has been incredible. She’s hit 38% of them since coming back after being just a 25% shooter previously. Find you a man who loves you the way Mark Campbell loves the transfer portal. Ten of the twelve players to take the court for the Horned Frogs this season have started their careers somewhere else.

Watch out for West Virginia. The Mountaineers forced the 11th-most turnovers per game in Division I. They have a trio of pesky guards in Gigi Cooke, Jordan Harrison, and Sydney Shaw that opponents hate to see. Harrison averaged nearly 4 steals per game in conference play on her way to Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Interesting little quirk here: this game time is actually flexible based on how far BYU makes it. If the Cougars make the title game, it automatically gets moved to 4:00 pm (ET) on Monday to respect the school’s religious practices. They’re losing to TCU as I type this, so it should stay on Sunday.

They very politely like to spread the love in this conference, with 7 different schools winning the tournament in the last 8 years it’s been held. High Point is a little more selfish during the regular season, having just wrapped up its 3rd straight regular-season title. UNLV transfer Macy Spencer took home both Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors for the Panthers after her spectacular season.

Radford and Longwood were right on High Point’s heels all season long. No surprise that they’ll be facing off in the semifinals on Saturday. A bit of a surprise? High Point’s opponent, the Winthrop Eagles. Cori Lard helped them take down Gardner-Webb on Thursday night. Can their Cinderella run continue?

Already had plenty of fireworks in this tournament after a brawl between South Alabama and Coastal Carolina led to a referee getting knocked out. The top-5 seeds are all worthy champions with 13 regular-season wins in conference play. Georgia Southern led the way, going 16-2. They are looking for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994. That year, they lost in the first round to eventual national champion North Carolina.

Troy finished right behind them in the standings. Their entire starting 5 is made up of seniors. F Zay Dyer is 3rd in the nation in rebounding at 13.1 per game, and G Emani Jenkins is 3rd in 3-pointers made per game. She hits 3.1 per game at a 42% clip.

This is one of a couple of conferences that use a gauntlet-style bracket, so Troy and Georgia Southern are awaiting their opponents in the semifinals. Still a lot of dangerous teams alive, including last year’s conference tournament champion, Arkansas State.

I know Florida Gulf Coast is like Michael Myers to these other schools. Winners of 8, yes, 8 straight conference tournament titles, the Ospreys’ reign came to an end at the hands of Stetson. I bet the other teams are still a little nervous that they’ll somehow show up in the finals, but you’re safe.

Stetson will take on an Austin Peay team that upset regular-season title winner Eastern Kentucky as I’m writing all of this. It was an absolutely ugly game with both teams combining to shoot 3-47 from 3. I had to delete an entire paragraph. On the other side of the bracket, Jacksonville and A-Sun Player of the Year Priscilla Williams will take on Central Arkansas. I hope I don’t have to come back and edit this again!

Another gauntlet-style bracket as the Horizon League sends its top-3 seeds straight to the semifinals. Congratulations, Green Bay, Youngstown State, and Cleveland State! You are just 2 wins away from the NCAA Tournament! Top seed, Green Bay, has it the easiest as the other teams are battling it out to face them. They are seeking their 3rd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Also, big fan of the middle of the week lunch time game.

Guess what? Another gauntlet-style bracket. I like it. This is how these smaller conferences make sure their best teams get the best chance to represent them in the Big Dance. Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga will be awaiting everyone else. The Zags feature redshirt freshman Lauren Whittaker, whose 19 points and 11 rebounds per game earned her both Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year honors. She’s the first WCC player to take home both awards since Sonya Carter did it for US International 40 years ago.

Loyola Marymount G Jess Lawson is one of the most interesting players in the country. Her hoops journey saw her climb the ranks of junior college and Division II before playing at Central Michigan last season. She’s listed at just 5’7”, but finished 3rd in the conference in rebounding, including an absurd 21-rebound game against Oregon State to end the regular season.

San Diego State broke UNLV’s tournament championship streak last year, then snapped its regular season title streak this season, thanks to a 19-1 conference record. The Runnin’ Rebels are still in the mix after finishing tied for 2nd with Colorado State. UNLV features the conference’s top-2 rebounders in Shelbee Brown and Meadow Roland. Other players to watch include Colorado State’s Lexus Bargesser, who averaged 14.5 points per game in conference play on 46% from 3, and San Diego State’s Naomi Panganiban and Nala Williams, who led the Aztecs in points and rebounds in Mountain West play.

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