The NCAA Tournament bracket is set, and the first games tip off Wednesday. From now until April 2, it’s all about college basketball.

Whether you’re a diehard fan or watching for the first time, Just Women’s Sports has everything you need to know about March Madness.

Who will win it all?

This is a season where the favorite has separated itself from the rest of the 68-team field. Of course, March is mad for a reason, so anything can happen. But South Carolina has all the tools to repeat as champions.

The Gamecocks are 32-0 heading into the tournament, and they have answered every test they have faced this season. Led by Aliyah Boston, the reigning POY, DPOY and Final Four Most Outstanding Player, South Carolina has talent and experience. Four of five starters from last year’s squad are back to chase another title.

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𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝒪𝒻𝒻𝒾𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁...

Back-to back No. 1 seeds. We're goin' dancin!! 💃 pic.twitter.com/CQZwggF6ZK

— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) March 13, 2023

Who could play Cinderella?

The best thing about Cinderella teams is that they usually come out of nowhere, so don’t be surprised when someone outside of these selections makes a run. That being said, UNLV, Middle Tennessee, Gonzaga and Princeton all have a create chaos.

UNLV

The Rebels are seeded at No. 11 because of their conference (Mountain West) and their poor strength of schedule. But if you watch UNLV, the talent is clear. All five players can create their own shots, they run the floor well, and can overwhelm opponents with athleticism.

Middle Tennessee

This team has a tough matchup in the first round with sixth-seeded Colorado, but the 11th-seeded Blue Raiders know how to win big games. They topped Louisville earlier this year and took care of business in Conference USA, winning 18 games. Middle Tennessee is dangerous because of the way the team shares the ball. Six players contribute at least 7 points per game, and four of them average double-digits.

Gonzaga

The Zags makes a point to schedule tough opponents outside of conference play. This year, they played Louisville, Marquette, Tennessee and Stanford, so they won’t be rattled by big-name opponents. Plus, they are experienced, with a starting five made up of all juniors and seniors.

Princeton

The Tigers made a splash last season when they beat Kentucky in the first round and then nearly knocked off Indiana. This time around, Princeton is missing Abby Meyers, who transferred to Maryland, but this team still has the goods to surprise its opponents. Kaitlyn Chen, the Ivy League POY, will lead the charge. She’s averaging 15.9 points, 3.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.

Hearing your name on Selection Sunday never gets old.

We’re going dancing in Salt Lake City, Utah against No. 7 seed NC State!#GetStops 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/YwBYRr9hbo

— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) March 13, 2023

Five players you might not know, but should

Desi-Rae Young, UNLV

The Las Vegas native is a problem in the paint, averaging 18.2 points and 10.2 rebounds while shooting 59.7 percent from the field. She anchors a talented UNLV team with strength, athleticism and excellent footwork inside. Young can also face up and take opponents off the dribble, making her a potential mismatch for defenders.

Jaylyn Sherrod, Colorado

The Buffs have had an excellent season thus far in no small part because of their point guard. Sherrod is one of the toughest players in the country. She will attack anyone off the dribble, play through injuries and has a motor that never quits.

Katie Dinnebier, Drake

The sophomore and former Miss Iowa Basketball has a habit of coming up big for her team in the most crucial moments. In the MVC Tournament quarterfinal, when Drake trailed by 8 points in the fourth, Dinnebier went on a scoring rampage, pouring in 13 of her 19 points in the final four minutes and 30 seconds.

Yarden Garzon, Indiana

Despite playing for one of the top teams in the country, Garzon has managed to stay under the radar all season. The 6-3 freshman is a complete player who does a bit of everything for the Hoosiers. She averages 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3 assists per game. Garzon has also been a starter all season, and despite being thrust into a big role, her youth never showed.

Gianna Kneepkens, Utah

In high school, Kneepkens scored 3,704 points, an insane number. She took her scoring prowess to college, where she puts up 15.4 points per game for one of the country’s best offensive teams. The sophomore has a true scorer’s mentality and is always hunting her shot. She can score from long range or off the bounce at the rim.

🚨𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐏𝐀𝐂-12 🚨 Congrats, G ‼️ pic.twitter.com/ptuYOuLfUZ

— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) February 28, 2023

Six teams to watch, and why

Who to watch if you love scoring: Utah

The Utes are fourth in the country in points per game with 83.5, and they score in a variety of ways. Utah is a fun offensive team because it features both posts and guards who can score. Everyone can shoot 3s, and everyone can attack off the dribble. Who could forget the 124 points the Utes dropped on Oklahoma earlier this season?

Who to watch it you love efficiency: Indiana

Indiana just plays good basketball. Things start inside with Mackenzie Holmes, who shoots 68.8 percent from the field (second in the country) and scores 22.3 points per game. But the efficiency doesn’t stop with Holmes. As a team, Indiana shoots 49.8% from the field (also second in the country) and has a 1.42 assist to turnover ratio (seventh in the country).

Who to watch if you love 3-pointers: Florida Gulf Coast

The Eagles make 11.7 3-pointers per game, which is first in the country. The closest another NCAA Tournament team comes to that mark is Creighton, which makes nearly two less a contest at 9.8.

Who to watch if you love star power: Iowa

Between her overall talent and the way she interacts with the crowd, Caitlin Clark is a bonafide star. Tune in to watch her shoot from the logo, throw full-court passes and put up triple-doubles. In her last outing, Clark led Iowa to the Big Ten title with 30 points, 17 assets and 10 rebounds.

Who to watch if you love a favorite: South Carolina

The Gamecocks won last year’s national title, and they are favored to do the same this season. They enter the tournament with an undefeated 32-0 record, and are beating their opponents by an average of 30.3 points (first in the country).

The WNBA coaching carousel has come to a standstill, with the Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics both finalizing head coaching hires earlier this week.

Dallas GM Curt Miller brought on former Sun, Sparks, and USC assistant coach Chris Koclanes as head coach of the Wings.

"We are thrilled to welcome Chris Koclanes as the new head coach of the Dallas Wings," said Miller in a team statement. "Throughout our extensive search and interview process, Chris continued to rise to the top and check the boxes of our important pillars. He is a servant leader who places a high value on connection, collaboration, and a positive and consistent communication style with all those he coaches."

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Mystics fill leadership vacancies

The Washington Mystics also made two key hires this week. The team appointed Jamila Wideman to GM and ex-Sky assistant Sydney Johnson​ to head coach.

"I have strong roots in the WNBA and have had the privilege of playing with, working alongside, and witnessing the incredible people who are the athletes at the center of the game," said Wideman afterwards. "The very best I have seen share some core qualities — curiosity, humility, and imagination. I look forward to building a Mystics team in partnership with the players, coaches, and staff that reflects this core."

WNBA teams enter 2025 with full staffs

Barring any unexpected twists, all 13 teams will now have head coaches in place going into the 2025 WNBA Draft and preseason.

Eight teams — including expansion side Golden State — enter 2025 armed with new bosses. Subsequently, seven of those candidates will be making their WNBA head coaching debuts.

Furthermore, Koclanes and Johnson are the third and fourth ex-assistants to get a shot at head coaching next season. The pair follows Natalie Nakase (Golden State) and Tyler Marsh (Chicago).

"Being named the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries is a lifelong dream come true," said Nakase. "We will strive to improve, compete, and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization."

After finishing 2024 in last place, the Houston Dash have been raising eyebrows with a series of offseason moves primed to make a splash next NWSL season.

Houston's top-tier transaction period continued on Thursday, landing Gotham and USWNT forward Yazmeen Ryan for a league-record $400,000 in allocation money plus a 2025 international roster spot.

On Thursday, Gotham confirmed that Ryan had requested the trade, saying the club "worked tirelessly to honor her request." As part of the deal, Gotham also traded $80,000 in intra-league transfer funds to Houston.
 
Ryan joins a growing roster of savvy Dash pick-ups, including fellow Gotham standout Delanie Sheehan and San Diego defender Christen Westphal.

Subsequently, while they've yet to announce a new head coach, Houston has solidified their front office by bringing on ex-Angel City GM Angela Hucles Mangano as president of women's soccer.

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Gotham FC sees mass NWSL exodus

For Gotham, Ryan's departure is just the latest in a high-profile exodus. Sheehan, forward Lynn Williams, goalkeeper Cassie Miller, and defenders Sam Hiatt and Maitane Lopez have all left the one-time superteam.

"I don't want to get into everything with the end of Gotham, but I am really excited to be a part of a team that looks like they're just enjoying each other and having fun," Lynn Williams told The Women's Game after her trade to Seattle was made public.

Jonas Eidevall enters NWSL as San Diego boss

The San Diego Wave hired ex-Arsenal manager​ Jonas Eidevall as the NWSL team's new head coach, according to multiple reports released earlier this week. 

Eidevall finished his tenure at Arsenal with an overall record of 80-24-16. However, he stepped down after failing to resign star forward Vivianne Miedema ahead of a sputtering 1-1-2 start to the 2024/25 WSL season​.

Eidevall will be the fourth coach to take the reins in San Diego this year, after Casey Stoney's mid-season firing led to interim stints from Paul Buckle and former USMNT mainstay Landon Donovan​.

San Diego's 2024 tumult wasn't limited to staffing. Founding members like Alex Morgan retired while impact players like Abby Dahlkemper and Sofia Jakobsson departed the club for other opportunities.

Embattled Wave president Jill Ellis also left the team, accepting a new role at FIFA earlier this month.

The Wave and Eidevall will kick off this new chapter seeking stability after a rollercoaster year. As such, both club and coach will bank on a strong 2025 to chart a new course.

No. 7 USC took down No. 4 UConn on Saturday, winning 72-70 in a battle between two bonafide NCAA basketball championship contenders still figuring out a consistent flow of play.

USC led by as many as 18 in the first half. However UConn came storming back, briefly pulling ahead in the fourth quarter before the Trojans outlasted the Huskies to secure the narrow victory.

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JuJu holds on to secure USC win

With UConn superstar Paige Bueckers tight on her heels, USC standout JuJu Watkins registered a game-leading 25 points, alongside six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks.

Bueckers and Huskies freshman Sarah Strong split scoring duties for UConn, notching 22 points each with Strong adding 11 rebounds.

After opening the season at No. 2, this highly touted UConn squad has dropped pivotal games against Notre Dame and now USC to go 0-2 in Top 10 matchups. It's a pattern legendary coach Auriemma will hope to correct before the Huskies face their next ranked opponent in early February.

"I thought the execution part in the first half was just as bad as I've seen in a few years here in Connecticut," Huskies boss Geno Auriemma said after the loss.

"This is a really significant win, and it's a really significant win because of the stature of UConn's program and what Geno Auriemma has done for our sport," commented USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

Weekend upsets shake top-ranked NCAA basketball teams

Elsewhere, upsets dominated the NCAA basketball conversation this weekend, with Top 25 contenders falling short as this season's undefeated list continues to shrink.

No. 15 Michigan State saw their first loss on Friday, falling to unranked Alabama 82-67 in a low scoring matchup. Afterwards, No. 9 Duke suffered their own unranked loss on Saturday, ceding a tough defensive battle to USF 65-56.

Seventeenth-ranked Georgia Tech remains undefeated with Saturday's ranked win over No. 23 Nebraska, while No. 14 West Virginia lost to unranked Colorado later that day.

Parity is the name of the game this season, with conference realignment, the transfer portal, and other recent shifts impacting a number of programs across the NCAA. And with conference play looming, teams will rely on regional rivalries and schedule strength to prepare them for heightened competition in the new year.

Penn State won the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship on Sunday, rising above Louisville's hometown advantage and a monster second set by the Cardinals to claim the program's eighth all-time title and first in 10 years.

In the victory, Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first woman head coach in NCAA tournament history to win the championship — all while battling breast cancer.

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Penn State tops Louisville in a back-and-forth matchup

Sunday's championship game drew a sell-out crowd of 21,860 to the KFC Yum Center in downtown Louisville, setting a new NCAA volleyball championship record. It was Louisville's second-ever title match, after finishing second to Texas in 2022.

After suffering an ankle injury in​ Thursday's semifinal upset against Pitt, however, Louisville entered the match without senior outside hitter Anna DeBeer. The absence ultimately proved too great to overcome.

The Nittany Lions won the first set 25-23, before Louisville saved 10 set points to dramatically take the second set 34-32.

But the Nittany Lions roared back, overwhelming the Cardinals to win the third set 25-20 before closing out the deciding set 25-17.

A moving win for Penn State's women's volleyball coach

Penn State coach Schumacher-Cawley, who was diagnosed with cancer last fall, stayed with her team throughout the 2024 season.

"I'm very happy for Katie, and it's a big deal for this sport," Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. "I'm thankful… that we can move on and that more women will be in this position in the future."

As for Schumacher-Cawley, she remained ever humble.

"I'm inspired by the young kids that are sick," she said after the win. "If I can be an inspiration, then I take that. But I feel good. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by so many great people."