Conference debates happen every year in college basketball, but at no point are they fiercer than in the weeks leading up to Selection Sunday. And this women’s college basketball season, there is plenty to debate between three conferences: the Pac-12, the Big Ten and the ACC.

While the SEC has two of the top-five teams in the country, South Carolina and LSU, no other program from the conference is represented in the most recent AP Top-25 poll. The Big 12 has three current Top-25 teams (No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 17 Texas and No. 22 Iowa State) and the Big East has two (No. 6 UConn and No. 14 Villanova).

To determine the best conference, Just Women’s Sports used three factors: expert analysis, AP rankings and NET rankings. The NET is a system that takes into account a team’s results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, offensive and defensive efficiency, and quality of wins and losses.

Here are the cases to be made for each of the top three conferences.

Pac-12

Ranked teams: No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Utah, No. 16 UCLA, No. 18 Arizona, No. 21 Colorado, No. 25 USC

Top-25 NET teams: No. 4 Stanford, No. 6 Utah, No. 20 Colorado, No. 21 Oregon

The Pac-12 has looked stronger as the season progresses, with teams like Colorado and USC moving into the rankings and others like Stanford and Utah maintaining their success. In other words, the best teams are staying in top form, and the rest of the conference is catching up.

The Pac-12 also holds the distinction of having two of only four teams in the country, UCLA and Stanford, who have lost to No. 1 South Carolina by fewer than 10 points. The Cardinal took the Gamecocks to the brink on Nov. 20 before losing 76-71 in overtime, giving South Carolina the biggest challenge they’ve faced thus far.

And while Oregon has fallen off mightily since an 11-1 start to the season, the Ducks are still a positive for the Pac-12. They have a high net ranking, and they’ve managed to be competitive against most of their opponents. Those close games include eight-point losses to Utah and Stanford, a six-point loss to UCLA and a five-point loss to USC.

Overall, the Pac-12 is a competitive conference where even the bottom teams (other than 0-12 Arizona State) give their opponents trouble. Take Washington’s 72-67 win over Stanford as an example — despite being 13-11 and 5-9 in conference play, the Huskies were just the second team to top the Cardinal this season.

Big Ten

Ranked teams: No. 2 Indiana, No. 7 Iowa, No. 8 Maryland, No. 12 Michigan, No. 13 Ohio State

Top-25 NET teams: No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Iowa, No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Maryland, No. 16 Ohio State

At this point in the season, there are three teams that I think can win the national championship: South Carolina, Stanford and Indiana. The Big Ten’s No. 1 team can compete with the best of the best, and with the way the Hoosiers are playing right now, a Final Four seems plausible and a championship more than possible. That’s a good start for the Big Ten in the top conference debate, but the argument doesn’t end there.

There’s Ohio State, a team that also looked poised for a Final Four when healthy. It’s unclear whether they’ll get Jacy Sheldon and Rebeka Mikulasikova back in time for the postseason, but the Buckeyes’ 18-0 start can’t be discounted.

Having a player like Caitlin Clark in the Big Ten also gives the conference a lift, as the Player of the Year candidate makes Iowa a challenge for any opponent. Then, there’s Maryland, who has impressive non-conference wins over UConn, Notre Dame and Baylor, as well as Michigan, who topped North Carolina.

The conference also has two unranked but competitive teams in Nebraska and Illinois. The Huskers beat Maryland once this season and secured a triple-overtime win over a solid Kansas team, and Illinois defeated Iowa.

The argument for the Big Ten comes from Michigan State, who despite being 5-9 in conference play, is the only team in the country to beat Indiana.

ACC

Ranked teams: No. 9 Duke, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 11 Virginia Tech, No. 19 North Carolina, No. 24 Florida State

Top-25 NET teams: No. 7 Duke, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 12 Virginia Tech, No. 17 NC State, No. 19 Florida State, No. 23 North Carolina

The ACC has the distinction of being the most chaotic conference in the country. Every week, ACC teams are beating up on each other, and the conference standings reflect that chaos. Duke is first at 12-2, Notre Dame follows at 11-3, Virginia Tech and Louisville are tied at 10-4, and Florida State, North Carolina and Miami are all 9-5. With just over a week left in the regular season, it’s going to be a fight for the top spot until the very end.

Let’s start with Duke, the team most likely to win the ACC. They’re 22-3 with one non-conference loss (78-50 against Connecticut), and their other defeats came against Florida State and North Carolina. Notre Dame, the second-place team, beat UConn in non-conference play and then lost to Duke and NC State in conference play. Louisville is unranked in both the AP Poll and the NET, but they are tied for third in the ACC. Finally, one of those 9-5 teams, Florida State, topped the conference’s first-place team but also lost to Boston College, who is 4-11 in conference play.

See? Pure chaos.

The ACC also has three unranked teams that have spent time in the Top 25, one of which is knocking on the door yet again. After a tough start to the season, Louisville is back to getting the type of results people expected of them, with a big win over UNC on Feb. 5. The other two unranked squads, Miami and NC State, have both spent time in the Top 25 and have wins over top conference opponents. Miami defeated UNC and Virginia Tech on back-to-back nights, while NC State has a win over Notre Dame and a non-conference victory over Iowa.

As this exercise makes clear, all three of these conferences are stacked this season. But I think one is just a bit better than the others based on overall parity. When I turn on an ACC game, I never know what’s going to happen because these squads are so close together.

In 2023, the ACC reigns supreme.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Montréal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin has won the 2024/25 PWHL Billie Jean King MVP award, the league announced at its end-of-season ceremony on Wednesday.

Poulin beat out Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast and former Boston Fleet forward Hilary Knight for the honor, becoming the PWHL's first-ever two-time MVP finalist in the process.

The prolific forward never saw three straight games without a point this season, leading the league in scoring with 19 goals on the season — a tally that comprised an impressive 25.7% of Montréal's 2024/25 goals.

The awards cap a banner year for the Canadian national, who also picked up 2025 IIHF Player of the Year as well as MVP honors at April's IIHF Women's World Championship.

Wednesday's win also keeps the PWHL MVP award in Canada, with Poulin joining inaugural winner and Toronto Sceptres forward Natalie Spooner as the league's first two top individual honorees.

Along with her MVP trophy, the 34-year-old also snagged this season's Forward of the Year honor, while Fast scored the PWHL Defender of the Year title.

Montréal ultimately claimed the most hardware of the night, with manager Kori Cheverie taking home the season's Coach of the Year title while Poulin's Victoire teammate Ann-Renée Desbiens earned the Goaltender of the Year award.

As for the 2024/25 season's best debutant, last year's No. 1 draftee Sarah Fillier snagged the Rookie of the Year title following a stellar first pro season with the New York Sirens.

Incoming NWSL expansion side Boston Legacy FC announced the hiring of the club's first-ever head coach on Wednesday, tapping Benfica manager Filipa Patão ahead of the team's inaugural 2026 season.

"I'm very excited about going to Boston. I can't wait to get to the city, meet all the people and start working," said Patão, who will join the front office in July to help build the Legacy's roster.

Patão has helmed Benfica since 2020, amassing a 156-28-15 W-L-D record across all competitions, including leading the team to the 2023/24 Champions League quarterfinals — the best finish of any Portuguese club in UWCL history.

"Boston is a club where we want to develop both technical identity and have a clear style of play, but also we want a coach who thinks about more than just winning games," said incoming Boston GM Domè Guasch in a team statement. "Filipa is a coach I believe can help us build a great culture where players understand they will come here to grow and learn."

Patão adds to the Legacy's increasingly European front office, following the likes of Guasch, who joined from FC Barcelona.

"The American league is extremely competitive and that's one of the reasons I accepted this project," Patão said. "I like competition, difficulty, and getting the players to strive for more and better."

Her penchant for developing players as well as her will to win are two reasons that Legacy controlling owner Jennifer Epstein says made Patão a perfect fit for Boston.

"Filipa demonstrates all of the qualities that personify this club and the way we want to play: with passion, grit, and style," said Epstein.

"We can’t wait to watch her build Boston's next championship team."

The world No. 1 USWNT takes the pitch against No. 25 Ireland on Thursday night, kicking off a three-friendly stretch that spans two games against the Girls in Green in Colorado and Ohio before a Washington, DC, clash against regional rivals No. 8 Canada.

"We're largely inexperienced and still learning with everything that we're looking to do, but this team, they are fast learners," US head coach Emma Hayes told media earlier this week.

After Hayes decided to give nearly all her Europe-based players a break during this international window, the USWNT enters this stretch of friendlies without a number of first-choice starters, giving young bubble players perhaps their last chance to impress.

Next week's bout with Canada will be the USWNT's last match opportunity until October's international window — the second-to-last break of 2025.

"We're at the stage where we are determining the criteria for 2027 and what that looks like," said Hayes. "From October onwards, I would say that extended pool will be the group that we will build towards 2027 with."

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Notably, Thursday's lineup could feature a boost from previously injured 2024 Olympians Rose Lavelle and Croix Bethune, with the veteran Lavelle also stepping into a newly elevated leadership role on the team.

"I had a lot of really great older players to look up to to help usher me into the position where I now can be that for the younger players, so it's definitely something that I lean into," Lavelle said on Wednesday.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Ireland on Thursday

The No. 1 USWNT will kick off their first friendly against No. 25 Ireland at 9 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage airing on TBS.

The Indiana Fever waived their splashiest offseason signing, two-time WNBA champion DeWanna Bonner, at her request on Wednesday.

The the 37-year-old missed the last five games due to personal reasons, with recent reports alluding to the six-time All-Star's desire to sever her Fever contract.

"Despite our shared goals and excitement heading into the season, I felt the fit did not work out and I appreciate the organization's willingness to grant my request to move on, particularly at this point in my career," Bonner said in a statement.

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After bringing on key additions like Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Sophie Cunningham, the Fever were projected to take a serious leap forward under new Indiana head coach Stephanie White this season.

Unfortunately, Indiana has encountered multiple snags, with franchise player Caitlin Clark sidelined for weeks with a quad strain while White missed several games for personal reasons.

The Fever currently sit eighth in the WNBA standings with a 7-7 record, as Clark battles through a slump that saw her average just 26.5% from the field in her last three games.

She'll ride the bench again on Thursday night, as the superstar guard manages a groin injury.

To fill the gaps, Indiana signed Aari McDonald to a rest-of-season contract this week, rewarding the point guard for her strong performances in Clark's absence.

As for Bonner, she has 48 hours to clear the waiver wire, as some reports link her to a veteran minimum contract with the Phoenix Mercury for the remainder of the 2025 WNBA season.

How to watch the Indiana Fever in Thursday's WNBA lineup

The Indiana Fever will try to turn things around against the LA Sparks at 7 PM ET on Thursday night.

Live coverage of the game will air on Prime.