It was a wild ride getting here, but aside from No. 10 Creighton, the Elite Eight is populated with the teams you’d expect. Still, among those Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds are a mixture of first-timers and mainstays.

Stanford, South Carolina, UConn and Louisville are all names we associate with deep tournament runs, while this is Creighton’s first Elite Eight. Michigan joins the Bluejays in making its Elite Eight debut, and Texas is back for the second year in a row after going just two other times in the last 20 years. Rounding out the list is NC State, making its second Elite Eight in history and first since 1998.

On Sunday and Monday, the field will cut in half once more, setting the ever-elusive Final Four bracket.

Here’s how I see the Elite Eight matchups playing out.

No. 1 South Carolina over No. 10 Creighton

Creighton has cemented itself as a tournament darling, but I don’t see its historic run going any further. The Bluejays’ motion offense can be successful against anyone, but against South Carolina, the game will come down to defending the Gamecocks.

Creighton was successful against Iowa and Iowa State because they were able to key in on one or two players, but South Carolina has offensive talent at almost every position. Between Aliyah Boston, Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke, the Gamecocks have too much firepower on the attack. Brea Beal, Victoria Saxton, and Kamilla Cardoso bring a size and strength off the bench that Creighton has yet to run into.

No. 1 Stanford over No. 2 Texas

Texas burst onto the scene this year with an upset of Stanford on Nov. 14. The Longhorns still play the same intense, up-and-down style of basketball as they did in November, but Stanford is no longer plagued with the same issues. Back then, the Cardinal were struggling to replace point guard Kiana Williams, and without her, they couldn’t take care of the ball. Since then, Lacie Hull and Anna Wilson have settled into the role, splitting time running Stanford’s offense.

In the first three games of the tournament, Stanford’s offense has been balanced and in sync. Against Montana State and Kansas, 12 different players recorded at least a point in each game, and against Maryland, the Cardinal had eight scorers. Texas has been playing great basketball, but it’s hard to imagine anyone beating Stanford right now.

No. 2 UConn over No. 1 NC State

In its 75-58 win over a talented Indiana squad, UConn officially proved that the hurdles of the regular season are over. The Huskies played as a cohesive unit, and everyone contributed to the result.

Williams to Edwards connection for 2️⃣🔥 #MarchMadness x @UConnWBB pic.twitter.com/6lWcVu8by1

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 26, 2022

Paige Bueckers and Christyn Williams each had 15 points, while Azzi Fudd showed off her 3-point shooting, adding 13 points of her own. Inside, Aaliyah Edwards and Olivia Nelson-Ododa were tough, combining for 19 points and 24 rebounds. Early in the season, those two didn’t have the goods to contend with an elite post player like Elissa Cunane, but they do now. Both teams have talented guards, but UConn has the edge in terms of overall skill. This game could be close, but I expect to see the Huskies make their 22nd Final Four.

No. 1 Louisville over No. 3 Michigan

Louisville is a team that forces a lot of turnovers. The Cardinals caused Tennessee to commit 18 miscues, which turned into 21 points on the other end. And Michigan is a team that commits a lot of turnovers. Per Her Hoop Stats, the Wolverines rank 245th in the country (out of 356) in turnovers per game, coughing the ball up 15.7 times per game. Put those together, and you have an advantage for Louisville.

Michigan’s greatest strength comes in the form of post player Naz Hillmon, and while I don’t expect Louisville to shut her down entirely, they do have the skills to limit her. Between Emily Engstler (6-foot-1), Olivia Cochran (6-3) and Liz Dixon (6-5), the Cardinals have a solid rotation of players to throw at Hillmon.

Eden Laase is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. She previously ran her own high school sports website in Michigan after covering college hockey and interning at Sports Illustrated. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Sweden veteran defender Magda Eriksson is hanging up her international boots to focus on her health, with the 32-year-old officially announcing her retirement from her national team on Sunday.

Eriksson will continue competing at the domestic level for her German club, Bayern Munich.

The longtime captain sat out the most recent international window due to a head injury, watching as world No. 3 Sweden fell to No. 1 Spain in the two-leg 2025 Nations League semifinals.

"It's by far the toughest decision I've ever made," Eriksson said in her social media announcement. "But I'm listening to my body and mind instead of my heart."

"I've landed in the fact that unfortunately it's a decision that has to be made."

After an 11-year career with the Swedish senior national team, Eriksson retires as a two-time Olympic silver medalist, earning those podium finishes in Rio in 2016 and at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.

Often leading Sweden through major tournaments where early domination dissolved into a third-place finish, Eriksson also helped her team eke onto the World Cup podium in both 2019 and 2023.

"It is heavy news," said Sweden head coach Tony Gustavsson after Eriksson announced her international retirement, calling her "one of our most important players for a long time."

"[Magda's] professionalism, courage, and heart have left a strong mark on the national team," he added.

Chelsea FC's £1 million gamble is paying dividends, as USWNT rising star Alyssa Thompson continued her goal-scoring momentum for the six-time defending WSL champs on Sunday.

The young forward found the back of the net in the ninth minute of the Blues' 1-1 Sunday draw with Liverpool, solidifying her status as a decisive attacking threat for her new club.

"You can see how much talent she has and the quality she brings to the team," Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said of Thompson earlier this month. "She's improving game after game, becoming more connected to her teammates, and understanding the way we want to play better."

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Thompson left NWSL side Angel City for Chelsea on a then-record £1 million transfer fee in early September, with the 21-year-old going on to notch three goals and one assist in four matches across both WSL and Champions League play.

"Being able to play with players that are the best in the world is an amazing opportunity," said the striker. "I want to learn, grow, and develop a lot. I feel like Chelsea is such an amazing environment to do that in."

Beyond individual accomplishment, Thompson's success underscores Chelsea's depth as they continue to hunt domestic and continental honors on a now-34 match WSL unbeaten streak — while also looking to potentially draw more USWNT stars away from the NWSL.

Women's professional baseball has landed a home base, with Front Office Sports reporting on Monday that the newly formed WPBL will play the entirety of its 2026 debut season at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois.

The incoming league prioritized a neutral venue without an existing baseball team to house its four inaugural clubs — New York, Boston, LA, and San Francisco — for its first campaign, with barnstorming games also planned for each team market.

"Our sport is for everybody," WPBL co-founder Keith Stein told FOS. "It's for middle America, everybody. We thought, 'Our teams are on these two coasts, it would be good to be in the middle of the country.'"

Founded in 2024 as the first professional women's baseball outfit in the US since 1954, the WPBL will hold its first-ever draft on Thursday, with the league's four teams drawing from a pool of 120 eligible players.

The WPBL recently fielded an oversubscribed Series A investment round, telling FOS that they're closing a $3 million raise with another round planned ahead of its August 2026 season-opener.

Each 30-player team will operate under a $95,000 salary cap for the first year, with the league also covering living costs throughout the seven-week season as well as giving players a percentage of sponsorship funds.

How to watch the first-ever WPBL Draft

The 2025 WPBL Draft kicks off at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage streaming across the league's Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels.

Las Vegas Aces boss Becky Hammon spoke her mind last week, telling CNBC Sport that the WNBA might need "a change in leadership" for the league's CBA talks to successfully progress.

"I just think [player relations] might be too fractured at this point, but we'll see," Hammon said, while also noting that she's had only limited interactions with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

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Citing Engelbert's "private conversations...with individual players — or lack of the conversations," Hammon described the commissioner's current relationship with players as "rocky" while describing her widely criticized leadership style.

"I don't know if she can ever regret, retract, and get that traction back from those conversations," the Aces boss posited.

"When the players speak, people need to sit up and listen," she continued. "I think [Engelbert is] sitting up and listening now."

Hammon also voiced support for Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier after the five-time All-Star described the WNBA as having the "worst leadership in the world" in her now-viral 2025 exit interview.

"I completely agree with Napheesa that the players should be making more than coaches," the Las Vegas sideline leader — who publicly earns seven figures per year — continued. "They're due for a huge increase in salary, and it's got to be something that is sustainable. That's the biggest thing you got to remember, that this league is still a young league."

Ultimately, while the 2025 WNBA season is over, CBA concerns loom large over the league's current offseason and 2026 campaign, leaving Hammon and others looking to avoid a lockout as the November 30th extension deadline nears.