And then…there were four.
Even though March Madness is supposed to be the time of year where we look ahead to which teams will make Cinderella runs, Cinderella did not do too much dancing on the women’s side.
When all was said and done, this year’s Women’s Final Four is identical to last year’s version. The Texas Longhorns, UCLA Bruins, South Carolina Gamecocks and defending champion UConn Huskies are the quartet of teams that will seek to be called 2026 national champions.
Phoenix’s Mortgage Matchup Center – site of the 2024 WNBA All-Star weekend – will be the epicenter of the women’s basketball world this weekend. What makes this Final Four unique is how all four of the region champions are No. 1 seeds.
Sports fans may sometimes scoff at the idea of an all-chalk Final Four, but this is proof that UConn, South Carolina, UCLA and Texas were the best four teams all season long. Of course, only one team can leave the Valley of the Sun as this year’s national champions.
Phoenix will be a hotbed of basketball activity this weekend between the McDonald’s All-American Game and travel basketball events also taking place in Arizona.
Without further ado, let us take a look at this year’s Final Four field.
Remember earlier this decade when we used to ask the question about South Carolina or the field?
That question appears to have shifted to UConn or the field. UConn restored what many Huskies fans believe is their rightful place atop the women’s college basketball food chain when it defeated South Carolina in commanding fashion to win last year’s national championship game.
It appears that the Huskies may have become more dangerous than ever even after seeing Paige Bueckers and Kaitlyn Chen bring their talents to the WNBA. Sarah Strong is looking like a shoo-in to be the first overall pick in 2028’s WNBA Draft. Azzi Fudd will almost certainly be a lottery pick in this year’s draft.
Blanca Quiñonez, Ashlynn Shade, Allie Ziebell, Kk Arnold, Kayleigh Heckel and Serah Williams are other names opposing teams have to gameplan for when matching up against UConn.
It was only a couple of years ago when Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks ran the table en route to a perfect 38-0 record. Coach Geno Auriemma’s UConn assembling is only two wins away from eclipsing that feat at 40-0. UConn made it a dozen rings last season and want to turn that dozen into a baker’s dozen this season.
Speaking of those Gamecocks…
Coach Staley and her team likely has been thinking long and hard about that national championship game ever since last year.
The Gamecocks want to reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs. The only problem for South Carolina is in order for the garnet and black to be involved in Sunday’s national championship it has to get past a UConn team that has had its number as of late.
Remember what we said about 2028 WNBA lottery picks? Joyce Edwards also has to be on that list. Ta’Niya Latson transferring to Columbia from Florida State has also yielded massive dividends for South Carolina. Madina Okot is also appearing on a few WNBA Draft boards.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey once infamously asked who can guard Tessa? The query of containing Tessa Johnson is something the entirety of women’s college basketball is asking. Raven Johnson wants one more ring before she begins her journey in the WNBA. Agot Makeer has been an x-factor for South Carolina.
Just as Mulkey asked that question regarding Tessa Johnson, Staley has to be wondering similar regarding who can guard Strong and Fudd.
This marks six consecutive Final Fours for Staley and her daycare. Basketballs are favorite toys of many of those kids – and they know what to do with those basketballs to bring a fourth national championship in the Staley era back to the Palmetto State.
The day was Nov. 26. It was the Players Era Women’s Championship in Las Vegas. UCLA was on one bench and Texas was on the other.
That contest would result in the Longhorns scoring a 76-65 victory over the Bruins. Since then, coach Cori Close’s UCLA bunch has not dropped a contest since. This included in the Big Ten championship when UCLA was offered little resistance by Iowa.
Considering the location of this year’s Final Four, one would think that UCLA could be heading into this one with a home court advantage. After all, Los Angeles is much closer to Phoenix than Storrs, Austin or Columbia are.
The Bruins are also entering this contest with Texas with revenge on their brains. UCLA certainly has the team to get it done. Lauren Betts is entering her last Final Four before she likely gets selected as a lottery pick in this year’s draft. Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens are also appearing on mock draft boards as well. Both Kneepkens and Angela Dugalić are graduate students.
UCLA’s season ended at the hands of UConn in last year’s national semifinal. This is a team that has national championship caliber written all over it. This trip now means that the Bruins have appeared in back-to-back national championship games. Unlike its peer teams that will be joining the Bruins for this weekend’s championship get-togethers in Arizona, it has yet to win the big prize. Will that change this weekend in the Valley?
Coach Vic Schaefer’s Longhorns remember vividly what happened in last year’s national semifinal when Texas was on the wrong end of a defeat to South Carolina.
This year, the Longhorns defeated the Gamecocks to win the SEC championship in what many believe was a de facto home game for South Carolina considering Greenville’s Bon Secours Arena is where the SECs emanate from.
That is what earned Texas a No. 1 seed from the selection committee – and the Longhorns have not looked back since.
Madison Booker is almost certainly going to be a lottery selection in next year’s draft. Rori Harmon is a potential selection for this year’s draft. Jordan Lee, Kyla Oldacre, Justice Carlton, Aaliyah Crump and Breya Cunningham are other noteworthy players that one must be on the lookout for in terms of Texas.
It was in 1986 when the Longhorns were most recently the last team standing. Could we see more of the same roughly 40 years later?
