March Madness: How to watch the women’s NCAA Tournament and what to watch for
The top seeds continued to roll in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament, including UCLA, South Carolina and TCU.
Time to see if it continues when the round concludes on Monday.
No. 1 seeds Texas and USC play on Monday, along with No. 2s N.C. State and UConn. The road gets tougher from here, so the upsets could start to come after relatively few through the first three days.
A year ago, the women’s NCAA championship game drew a bigger television audience than the men’s title game for the first time, with an average of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark. The question was whether some fans would step away as Clark, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and other standouts headed to the WNBA.
Instead, the women’s game has featured a compelling bunch of stars all over again, from Paige Bueckers of UConn to JuJu Watkins of Southern California, Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame and Madison Booker of Texas.
The season has been must-watch viewing for another reason, too: parity. Four teams held the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25, tying for the most ever, and this NCAA Tournament will be only the second one in the past 19 years to have no teams with zero or one loss. The other time was in 2022.
Games to watch
UConn vs. South Dakota State, Monday. The Huskies and Bueckers left no doubt in their opening game, crushing Arkansas State 103-34. The 10th-seeded Jackrabbits had one of the bracket’s few early upsets, knocking off Oklahoma State in their opener.
LSU vs. Florida State, Monday. This game might have the best matchup of the NCAA Tournament between Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson against LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. Latson leads the nation in scoring while Johnson is one of the sport’s most marketable players — with plenty of talent to go with it.
USC vs. Mississippi State, Monday. Trojans All-American JuJu Watkins may face one of her stiffest tests of the season. Watkins had 22 points in USC’s opening blowout over UNC Greensboro, but faces a Mississippi State defense that’s one of the most disruptive in the bracket.
How can I watch the tournament?
Every game of the women’s tournament will be aired — here is a schedule that will be updated with matchups — on ESPN’s networks and streaming services with select games on ABC.
Who are the favorites?
The top four betting favorites as the tournament began were, in order: defending champion South Carolina, UConn, UCLA and USC, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Who is playing?
There are 31 automatic bids that went to conference champions and they were combined with 37 at-large picks by the NCAA selection committee. Selection Sunday unveiled the bracket matchups.
When are the games?
First- and second-round games conclude Monday on campuses across the country. Sweet 16 weekend (March 28-31) will see games at two sites once again: Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington.
The Final Four is in Tampa, Florida, on Friday, April 4, with the championship game on Sunday, April 6.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.