The 2025 FIBA AmeriCup 5×5 basketball tournament tips off Saturday in Santiago, Chile, where a youthful Team USA will battle nine other countries from North and South America for both this summer's trophy and a ticket to the 2026 FIBA World Cup.
After falling to reigning champions Brazil in 2023, Team USA will aim to avenge the loss by winning a fifth all-time gold medal at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup final on July 6th.
Led by Duke head coach Kara Lawson, this 12-player US squad follows the federation playbook by tapping top college talent, with the NCAA's finest looking to gain international experience and hone their skills against pros like Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso, who leads Brazil's AmeriCup roster.
Full of familiar faces, the USA AmeriCup lineups includes March Madness stars Olivia Miles (TCU), Flau'Jae Johnson (LSU), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Madison Booker (Texas), Audi Crooks (Iowa State), Raegan Beers (Oklahoma), and Joyce Edwards (South Carolina).
Also taking the FIBA court for Team USA are NCAA standouts Mikayla Blakes (Vanderbilt), Gianna Kneepkens (UCLA), Kennedy Smith (USC), Hannah Stuelke (Iowa), and Grace Vanslooten (Michigan State).
"[W]e haven't seen the level of physicality and experience we're going to see down there," Lawson said this week. "So that remains to be seen if we're going to be able to impose that athletic, physical play. But there's no doubt we're going to try."
How to watch Team USA at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup
The 2025 FIBA AmeriCup group stage runs from Saturday through Wednesday, with the knockouts tipping off on July 4th in a run-up to the July 6th championship game.
Team USA will open their AmeriCup campaign against hosts Chile at 8:25 PM ET on Saturday, then face Colombia at 8:10 PM ET on Sunday.
Arguably the toughest Group B contest for the US will be their Monday matchup against Puerto Rico at 8:10 PM ET, before the collegiate stars finish up the tournament's group play against Mexico at 2:10 PM ET on Wednesday.
All 2025 FIBA AmeriCup games will stream live on Courtside 1891.
Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.
Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, retired NWSL great Merritt Mathias, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.
This week, Just Women’s Sports brought Sports Are Fun! to Tampa for a live recording ahead of the NCCA Final Four.
Taped in front of a live audience, O’Hara and the crew were joined by some extra special guests. Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, WNBA stars Aaliyah Edwards and Kelsey Mitchell, and UCLA standout Gabriela Jaquez all showed up to talk through the biggest weekend in college basketball.
'Sports Are Fun!' guests give their takes on the NCAA Final Four
Lisa Leslie on why UConn star Paige Bueckers doesn’t need a championship to secure her legacy
- “There's a whole career beyond college… She’s about to be the No. 1 draft pick in the WNBA. Now, if she gets there and she doesn't have a stellar career in the W, then maybe we don't talk about her anymore. But I don't really see that happening.”
Aaliyah Edwards on what UConn needs to do to stop UCLA in the Final Four
- “The first thing is, we just need to set the tone, play our game, focus on us. Because we've been doing great things. Second thing would be to limit the touches inside… And the third thing, which is like a UConn motto, is just play hard, play smart, and have fun.”
- “Obviously respect to UCLA, but I think we got it in the bag.”
Kelsey Mitchell on NIL pressure and Olivia Miles entering the NCAA transfer portal
- “I grew to respect people like Caitlin [Clark] because she handled it so gracefully… With Olivia, I'm sure whatever she decides to do, I'm going to say it was for her and what she needed for her career. But I hope consciously that they make decisions based on what they need for themselves.”
- “Not all money is good money. Hopefully whatever she decides to do is for her and she goes where she’s loved and where she’s celebrated, not tolerated.”
Gabriela Jaquez on how UCLA is preparing for their Final Four matchup against UConn
- “We're feeling great. We're feeling very confident, excited. I think coming here in the Final Four, it's such an extravagant experience, and I'm so thankful for it and these opportunities. But yeah, we all are here to play basketball and win games, and we're excited and we're really confident.”
About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara
'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.
Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.
From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
When Texas takes on South Carolina this Friday, they’ll be playing for more than a shot at the NCAA tournament championship title.
That's because this year's Final Four is a rematch, marking the fourth meeting between the Longhorns and the reigning national champion Gamecocks this season. Now, Texas is looking for a little revenge against their top-ranked SEC rivals.
Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer knows South Carolina well. It’s a competitive relationship that dates back to his time coaching Mississippi State, where he led the Bulldogs to the 2017 title game. And the story is strikingly similar.
“I think in '17, we played them three times also, before we played them in the Final Four,” Schaefer said after Monday’s Elite Eight win over TCU. “I think that was our fourth time when we played them in the national championship game.”
Staley got the best of Schaefer back then, with South Carolina defeating the Longhorns 67-55 on the way to their first-ever national championship. On Friday, Texas will attempt to flip the script against the 2024 champs, in hopes of securing the team’s first NCAA title in over 30 years.
“That's the thing about Dawn's teams, is that you know you're going to get the same from them that you try to impart on others, too,” Schaefer continued. “They're going to be tough.”
While this Texas squad has showcased their own toughness all season long, South Carolina has once again proven to be a formidable foe. The Gamecocks downed the Longhorns 67-50 in their first clash back in January. Subsequently, the loss served as a valuable lesson, lighting a fire under Texas that they’ve carried with them ever since.
“If you’re going to be a top team you have to beat a top team,” star sophomore Madison Booker told Just Women’s Sports ahead of the 2025 SEC tournament. “Reality hits you right there.”
“After that [game], we kind of figured we weren’t preparing right,” she continued. “We weren’t preparing like we want to win championships. We weren’t preparing like we want to beat top teams, or be a top team. So we had to change.”
That late January defeat launched Texas into a 16-game winning streak. They went on to finish out the regular season without dropping a single additional game.
Moving to the SEC puts Texas in a whole new league
Joining the SEC in 2024 after 28 years in the Big 12, the Longhorns have adapted smoothly. They’ve shown that they know what it takes to become a true title contender, building on two straight appearances in the Elite Eight to punch their ticket to the program’s first Final Four in two decades.
The conference move didn’t hurt, said Schaefer. The coach credited what he calls “a different league" for challenging his players to grow this season.
“I say it all the time, we jumped out of the frying pan and into the grease,” he said of the leap to the SEC. “It’s a different style, it’s certainly more physical. It’s a league that challenges you every night. You win on the road in this league, it’s like a win and a half.”
“This whole conference [season], I feel like people have been throwing some different stuff at me,” Booker emphasized on JWS podcast Sports are Fun! with Kelley O’Hara. “Box-and-one, face guarding, double- or triple-team. I think I’ve seen it all.”
Despite the competition, the Longhorns played to a 17-0 home record this year. Additionally, they gave up just one non-conference game to Notre Dame last December. Booker saw another excellent season, leading Texas in scoring on her way to winning SEC Player of the Year. And senior Rori Harmon’s return from injury gave Texas yet another boost, with the trusted point guard guiding Texas’s offense through difficult defensive sets with steady composure.
In early February, Texas settled the regular-season score with South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 66-62. And the win was bigger than the rivalry. It shot the Longhorns to the top of the AP Poll rankings. That boost saw Texas enter the SEC tournament as the country's No. 1 team.
And after ousting Ole Miss and LSU in the conference tournament’s first two rounds, there was only one team left to beat.
Texas basketball's bumpy road to the NCAA tournament
Texas reveled in wins as they came, whether it was going undefeated at home, winning a regular-season conference title, or progressing through the SEC tournament. But after each game, the same common refrain would emanate from the huddle: “What did Kobe say? JOB’S NOT FINISHED.”
“I think everyone understands what’s at stake here,” said Harmon ahead of Texas’s SEC conference final against South Carolina. “There’s definitely a chip on our shoulder. We need to get stuff done.”
Playing on their biggest stage yet, however, the Longhorns once again couldn’t hold off South Carolina. Eventually, they fell to the Gamecocks 64-45 in March's SEC championship. Rings aside, South Carolina had become Texas’s Achilles heel, with the SEC’s gold standard responsible for two-thirds of their losses going into March Madness.
Despite their late stumble, Texas still entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. The Longhorns then became more interested in defining their season from that point on, rather than wallowing in opportunities lost.
“You’re talking about a six-game winning streak. To win a national championship, you gotta win six in a row,” Schaefer said, sizing up the road ahead.
Taking March Madness by storm
So far, Texas has held up their side of the bargain. They’ve battled through four NCAA tournament rounds, downing March Madness debutant William & Mary, No. 8 seed Illinois, and tricky Tennessee side. Finally, they toppled a determined TCU team to set up a fourth date with their SEC rival.
And they know full well that they’ll have to tackle this next game as if it was their last.
“It probably means a little bit more [this year], there’s seniors on the team, including me,” Harmon noted. “But this is the team that can do it.”
After turning a solid regular season into a breakout year, everyone in the Texas locker room is firmly on the same page. Intensity and poise got them to the Final Four. Now they’ll have to trust that process to get over the same hurdle that has haunted them throughout the season.
“There is so much on the line, but you've gotta just go play,” Schaefer said on Saturday. “That game is very difficult, and you gotta have kids that can just kinda block out all the distractions, and everything around 'em, and just go play the game.”
The message in the huddle remains the same, because despite all their accomplishments, the job is far from finished. And no one’s lost sight of the bigger picture.
“We're here for a reason,” Harmon said earlier this week. “We worked hard for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. And we put our faith into that.”
Watch more: 'Can Texas Make a Tourney Run?' on Just Women's Sports
No. 1 seed Texas and No. 2 seed UConn punched their tickets to Tampa last night, joining No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina in the Final Four after two tight matchups closed out the NCAA tournament’s fourth round.
Texas got the best of in-state foe TCU 58-47, behind a game-high 18-point performance from SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker.
UConn then handled USC 78-64, holding off the JuJu Watkins-less Trojans as superstar guard Paige Bueckers followed up her career-high 40-point Sweet 16 performance by dropping 31 points on the night.
"We're just so grateful, but we know like the journey isn't done," Bueckers said after the game. "We want our story to continue as long as possible, and we have business to finish."
Texas books first Final Four appearance since 2003
After four Elite Eight appearances in five years, the Longhorns finally punched their ticket to the Final Four — their first time back since 2003 — behind a tenacious defense that forced 21 TCU turnovers.
“Anybody that watched that game today, when they turned the TV off, they had to go, ‘Wow, that freaking team plays their ass off,’” Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said after the game.
"I'm having fun with it now," Booker told reporters. "March Madness — you’re supposed to have fun."
"I’m so proud of myself and proud of my team to get to this moment," Harmon said after registering 13 points against TCU.
"Rori Harmon is still that girl," echoed Booker.
Bueckers leads UConn to the NCAA Final Four
The Huskies are headed to their fourth Final Four in the last five years. They advanced on a balanced scoring strategy that saw three different players put double-digit points on the board.
In addition to Bueckers’s 30-piece, freshman phenom Sarah Strong ran the frontcourt. Strong paired 22 points with 17 rebounds and four assists for her fifth postseason double-double. Additionally, Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen bolstered the backcourt with 15 points of her own.
"There's Disneyland, there's Disney World and then there's UConn World," Auriemma said. "These are fantasy numbers that make no sense. You couldn't predict this and you couldn't script this at all."
All four remaining teams have the potential to win a national championship. Now it’s a matter of who can deliver when the going gets tough.
The AP dropped the 2024/25 All-America first, second, and third teams on Wednesday, offering few surprises as top names from star programs dominated the lineup.
Sophomores JuJu Watkins (USC) and Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) both earned first-team honors for the second straight year, becoming just the third and fourth players to ever snag the honor in their first two seasons. They now join former college standouts and WNBA champions Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) and Maya Moore (UConn) in that elite club.
UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Texas’s Madison Booker, and UCLA’s Lauren Betts also earned first-team recognition, with the AP’s roster aligning with last week’s National Player of the Year shortlists.
Watkins, Bueckers, and Betts are the only unanimous first-team selectees, with Bueckers also making a splash by becoming just the 12th-ever player to earn an All-America nod for the third time.
March Madness tournament features all 2024/25 All-Americans
Program success and individual achievement strode hand-in-hand across the All-America selections, with all first-team players representing squads seeded No. 3 or higher in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
The second and third teams were more varied, though all players still feature on the 2025 March Madness bracket.
The second team tapped LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, UConn’s Sarah Strong, Florida State’s Ta'niya Latson, Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore, and Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles.
Meanwhile, USC’s Kiki Iriafen, TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, LSU's Flau'Jae Johnson, Iowa State's Audi Crooks, and Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes earned third-team recognition.
Notably, defending champion and No. 1 seed South Carolina failed to see any player named an All-American, though four Gamecocks did receive honorable mentions.
While awards are a small part of a season's story, the 2024/25 AP All-America teams do reflect a year filled with big stars and even bigger parity.
The 2024/25 AP All-America teams
First Team:
- JuJu Watkins, USC sophomore
- Paige Bueckers, UConn senior
- Lauren Betts, UCLA junior
- Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame sophomore
- Madison Booker, Texas sophomore
Second Team:
- Aneesah Morrow, LSU senior
- Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State junior
- Olivia Miles, Notre Dame senior
- Sarah Strong, UConn freshman
- Georgia Amoore, Kentucky senior
Third Team:
- Hailey Van Lith, TCU senior
- Kiki Iriafen, USC senior
- Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt freshman
- Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU junior
- Audi Crooks, Iowa State sophomore
Honorable Mention:
- Raegan Beers, Oklahoma junior
- Sonia Citron, Notre Dame junior
- Katie Dinnebier, Drake senior
- Joyce Edwards, South Carolina freshman
- Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga senior
- MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina sophomore
- Rori Harmon, Texas senior
- Izzy Higginbottom, Arkansas senior
- Aziaha James, NC State senior
- Lauren Jensen, Creighton senior
- Taylor Jones, Texas senior
- Chloe Kitts, South Carolina junior
- Ayoka Lee, Kansas State senior
- Cotie McMahon, Ohio State junior
- Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina senior
- Sedona Prince, TCU senior
- JJ Quinerly, West Virginia senior
- Kiki Rice, UCLA junior
- Shyanne Sellers, Maryland senior
- Serena Sundell, Kansas State senior
- Makayla Timpson, Florida State senior
- Harmoni Turner, Harvard senior
- Mikayla Williams, LSU sophomore
Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.
Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist and basketball expert Greydy Diaz, retired NWSL great Merritt Mathias, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes all things women's sports. And in today's episode, the crew is taking the NCAA selection committee to task as they hash out this year's March Madness bracket and everything that went down on Selection Sunday.
"We had selection Sunday yesterday, that was very exciting," O'Hara said, introducing the topic to the group. "So the overall number one seed was UCLA, correct? Is anyone surprised about that?"
"Yes," Mathias answered immediately. "I just think it's interesting that USC drops to like the fourth number one seed when they gave UCLA both their losses. The math's not adding up."
"Did you see coach Dawn Staley's reaction?" asked Diaz. "She didn't agree. There were many coaches who didn't agree with their own standing."
"Honestly — and I've said this before," said BJ. "I don't understand how they do this. I looked into it too last night and I was like, This is still not making sense to me. Let's just play basketball.'"
The one thing they can agree on? UConn potentially meeting USC in the Elite Eight would be an electric matchup.
"I think USC-UConn in the Elite Eight is going to be absolutely electric," said O'Hara. "
"Oh yeah," agreed Mathias. "That's like a semifinal. That's like a Final Four moment."
"And UConn being a No. 2 seed, they're like, 'Yeah give it to us. Let's freaking go,'" O'Hara continued. "You know they're probably ready to absolutely demolish people along the way. And USC only beat UConn by two points earlier this season."
The co-hosts additionally tackle the NWSL's opening weekend, Natasha Cloud's trade to the Liberty, Just Women's Sports' NWSL x WNBA jersey mashups, Unrivaled's championship match, and so much more!
Texas star Madison Booker talks March Madness on 'Sports Are Fun!'
Who better to shed light on the upcoming NCAA tournament than Texas women's college basketball star Madison Booker? The Longhorns' leading scorer and SEC Player of the Year later joins the crew to talk all things March Madness, including how she's gearing up to enter the tournament as a No. 1 seed.
"We figured the best way to go over selection Sunday — because we have some people here who literally know nothing about it, um BJ, not to throw you under the bus — is having you, a No. 1 seed come on and talk to us about it," O'Hara said, introducing this week's Sports Are Fun! guest. "So how were you feeling yesterday going to selection Sunday? Were you confident you guys were getting that No. 1 seed?"
"Not that I didn't care, but you know, if we got the No. 1 seed, we got it. But you know, if we were a two seed, then hey, it's it's ball time," Booker responded nonchalantly. "I felt like we deserved a one seed — We protected home court, I think that's really what secured that one seed."
"And also our away season was was kind of hectic this year," she continued. "We went to some Big Time places and came out with a dub, so I feel like we deserved it."
"Is there anything that you do specific specifically to set yourself up going into a game, especially in a playoff situation?" asked Mathias.
"Not really, honestly," Booker said with a smile. "I really go cool, calm, and collected. Honestly, just going in thinking that we're gonna win the game, that's my mindset always. Having that mindset of we're going to win this game, we have the edge, and just go play basketball."
About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara
'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.
Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.
From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
Fresh off announcing their 2024/25 Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) semifinalists on Tuesday, the Naismith Awards dropped this year’s National Player of the Year (POY) semifinalist lineup on Thursday, with four NCAA basketball stars earning spots on both elite lists.
Eight of the 10 athletes in the running for POY hail from Top 10 teams, with all players coming from programs who finished the 2024/25 NCAA regular season with an AP Poll ranking.
With three semifinalists each, the ACC and SEC lead the field. The Big Ten boasts two POY semifinalists, while the Big 12 and Big East each claim one.
Only one team — No. 8 Notre Dame — saw multiple players named as POY semifinalists, with two Irish standouts making the cut.
Snagging nods on both DPOY and POY shortlists are No. 4 USC sophomore JuJu Watkins, No. 8 Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo, No. 10 LSU senior Aneesah Morrow, and No. 1 UCLA junior Lauren Betts — the only center to earn a POY semifinalist spot.
Five guards join the four defensive standouts, including No. 3 UConn senior Paige Bueckers, No. 6 TCU grad student Hailey Van Lith, No. 8 Notre Dame grad student Olivia Miles, No. 13 Kentucky grad student Georgia Amoore, and No. 23 Florida State junior Ta’Niya Latson.
Rounding out the 2024/25 POY contenders is No. 5 Texas sophomore Madison Booker, the only forward named to the list.
Star turns have Naismith semifinalists topping the NCAA
On the Division I scoring sheet, Latson and Watkins top all other NCAA players with 24.9 and 24.6 points per game, respectively. Hidalgo's 24.2 average also puts her as the nation's No. 4 scorer.
Capping her season as the No. 3 dime-dropper is Amoore, who averages just under seven assists per game.
As the nation's top overall and best offensive rebounder, Morrow's 27 double-doubles on the season — five more than any other Division I player — helped secure her DPOY and POY semifinalist spots.
Meanwhile, Miles also owns an elite multi-stat NCAA position, finishing 2024/25 regular-season play as the only DI athlete to post three triple-doubles.
Five of the 10 semifinalists have already claimed some POY hardware for their 2024/25 performances, with Hidalgo, Van Lith, Bueckers, Watkins, and Booker all earning the honor for their respective conferences.
Notably, lone Big East representative Bueckers already owns a Naismith POY Award. The Husky booked the honor in 2021, and still stands as the only freshman winner in the award's now 42-year history.
Ultimately, just four of the 10 Naismith POY semifinalists will move on to March 25th’s final round, with the 2024/25 winner to be crowned on April 2nd — two days before the NCAA tournament's Final Four tips off.
In the brief moment between Sunday's NCAA basketball regular-season finale and Wednesday's tip off of major conference tournaments, Division I (DI) leagues doled out their individual 2024/25 season awards to top performers on Tuesday — raising the temperature of the National Player of the Year debate.
No. 6 Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo topped the ACC, with the conference naming her both Player of the Year (POY) and, for the second straight year, Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY).
Top-ranked Texas's Madison Booker took SEC POY honors just one year after becoming the first freshman to book POY in the Longhorns' previous conference, the Big 12.
Meanwhile, No. 12 Kentucky sophomore center Clara Strack snagged DPOY, rising to the top of a stacked SEC field that includes No. 9 LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, No. 5 South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards, and fellow Wildcat standout Georgia Amoore.
Taking over the Big 12 is No. 8 TCU transfer guard Hailey Van Lith, who became the first Horned Frog to earn POY alongside the conference's Newcomer of the Year award. Earning the league's DPOY nod is No. 16 West Virginia senior JJ Quinerly, who booked the honor for the second season in a row.
After leading the No. 2 USC to a regular-season title, sophomore star JuJu Watkins booked Big Ten POY, while fellow conference debutant No. 4 UCLA saw their standout center Lauren Betts take home DPOY honors.
Leaders emerge in National Player of the Year race
An NCAA basketball season defined by surging parity and momentum swings denied the emergence of any clear-cut National Player of the Year (NPOY) favorite, but three headliners managed to separate themselves from the pack entering postseason play.
Thanks to her late-season heroics, Big Ten leader Watkins is the second most prolific DI scorer at 24.4 points per game (PPG), only trailing No. 22 Florida State guard Ta'Niya Latson, who boasts 25.4 PPG.
Fellow NPOY frontrunner Morrow is just the second player to record 100 career double-doubles in NCAA DI history, though LSU’s recent skid could impact her individual award standing.
After becoming the first-ever freshman to win NPOY in 2021, No. 3 UConn star Paige Bueckers’s 53.3 season field goal percentage has the senior guard back in contention for the 2025 title.
With award-worthy performances across the NCAA bringing unprecedented parity to the sport's end-of-season honors, this year's NPOY race is vastly different from last season's back-to-back no-brainer win by Iowa legend Caitlin Clark, as multiple stars make the case for DI's top individual 2024/25 honor.
With less than three weeks left in NCAA basketball regular-season play, the final games will determine the winner of the Big Ten — a title that's increasingly likely to land in Los Angeles.
Already sitting atop their conference compatriots by at least two wins, No. 1 UCLA and No. 6 USC will meet for the first of two season clashes on Thursday, before closing out NCAA play against each other on March 1st.
The crosstown rivals are vying for a first-ever Big Ten regular-season title after joining the historically Midwest conference in 2024.
The games will feature two of the sport's biggest stars, as USC sophomore JuJu Watkins and UCLA junior Lauren Betts square off for the first time since their 2024 Pac-12 Tournament semifinal, when the eventual champion Trojans needed two overtime periods to outlast the Bruins.
This season, however, UCLA has an slight advantage over the Trojans. While the Bruins remain the only unbeaten Division I team left standing, USC has two defeats on their 2024/25 record, including a lone conference loss to unranked Iowa in early February.
That said, a Thursday home win would pull the Trojans even with UCLA at 11-1 on the Big Ten table, setting up a photo finish with the coveted No. 1 seed in March's conference tournament on the line.
"[UCLA is] a team that clearly has it clicking right now," USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told ESPN. "We know there'll be a lot of pride on the line."
NCAA National Player of the Year race heats up
Watkins and Betts aren't just making moves on the court this week. Both stars also made the John R. Wooden Award's 20-player late midseason watch list, which spotlights the athletes on track to vie for this season's overall best college basketball player honor.
Along with the SoCal standouts, Tuesday's list included Notre Dame guards Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles, Texas sophomore Madison Booker, LSU stars Aneesah Morrow and Flau'jae Johnson, and UConn senior Paige Bueckers, who became the award's first-ever freshman winner back in 2021.
Notably, a pair of true freshmen could follow in Bueckers' footsteps, with both fellow Husky Sarah Strong and Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes earning nods.
Though unlisted players remain eligible for the eventual 15-athlete ballot, these 20 represent the likeliest to follow in back-to-back Wooden winner Caitlin Clark's footsteps.
On the other hand, the Naismith Awards — the other leading NCAA honor — dropped its official positional shortlists last week, with 10 nominees in the running for each of the five awards. The 10-player lists will shrink to five finalists for each honor in March, and fans are currently eligible to vote on who makes that final cut.
Nearly all of the athletes on the Wooden Award's radar are also in the running for their respective Naismith honor.
How to watch Thursday's Top-10 NCAA basketball matchups
Players on both the Wooden and Naismith lists will feature in Thursday's top NCAA basketball matchups.
With Big Ten dominance on the line, Lauren Betts and No. 1 UCLA will visit JuJu Watkins and No. 6 USC at 10 PM ET, streaming exclusively on Peacock.
Meanwhile in the SEC, Madison Booker's No. 3 Texas squad will take on a No. 8 Kentucky team reeling from an upset loss to Ole Miss on Monday. Fellow Wooden watch list and Naismith nominee Georgia Amoore will try to lead the Wildcats past the Longhorns at 7 PM ET, with live coverage on ESPN2.
No. 4 Texas basketball claimed their revenge over No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday, taking down the reigning NCAA champs 66-62 to even the pair's regular-season series at 1-1.
In the process, the Longhorns snapped South Carolina's 57-game regular-season SEC winning streak — a victory chain dating back to December 2021.
Texas star sophomore Madison Booker led all scorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, prompting South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley to levy high praise by calling her "a beast on the boards" after the game.
Strength of SEC sets up fight for NCAA tournament positioning
This weekend's results ultimately bottlenecked Texas, South Carolina, and LSU into a three-way regular-season tie for first-place in the SEC — one of the NCAA's toughest leagues.
The No. 6 Tigers earned their own marquee win on Sunday, downing No. 19 Tennessee 82-77.
With that result, all three teams now have 10-1 conference records, though LSU and Texas could break from the line during their possible winner-take-all date this Sunday.
All in all, the Southeast's depth is both a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, the conference's elite teams are gearing up to take March Madness by storm: Each of the SEC's top trio is likely to finish the season as an AP Top-10 team, ultimately earning a strong seeding throughout the postseason.
Other strong squads, however, must grapple with under-seeding due to disappointing conference records suffered in the gauntlet of the SEC.
For example, despite last week's big win over No. 5 UConn, Tennessee's string of slim conference losses have them sitting 4-6 in SEC play. This means that the Vols will likely face an uphill battle to claim beneficial seeding in March's NCAA tournament, giving them a disproportionately difficult road to the Final Four.
Lauren Betts isn't done with the NCAA
Already looking beyond the 2024/25 NCAA postseason, star center Lauren Betts will return to UCLA next season and forego the 2025 WNBA Draft, the National Player of the Year candidate confirmed on Friday.
Ranked No. 1 out of high school, the 6-foot-7 junior transferred to the Bruins from Stanford after her freshman year, making the 21-year-old eligible to pass up her senior season and instead turn pro this spring.
"College is the best years of your life, and so I don't think I'd ever give that up," Betts told ESPN. "Why not be spoiled for a whole another year?"
"The way the coaches take care of us in this program, like, how comfortable I am here, and I think that the friendships I've created -- I'd want to do that for another year," she added.
She also cited the opportunity to play with her sister, incoming UCLA freshman forward Sienna Betts, as a factor in her decision to remain in the NCAA.
"I think that I would be crazy if I gave up the opportunity to play with my sister, so obviously, I'm going to come back next year," Betts said.
WNBA teams eye draft-eligible college athletes
Betts isn't the only top college player weighing her options. A number of factors are impacting the decision NCAA standouts currently face in deciding when to turn pro, from NIL money to the new CBA expected to reshape the WNBA in 2026.
Lottery locks like UConn's Paige Bueckers and Notre Dame's Olivia Miles could technically also opt to stay in school for another year. However, neither has indicated any plans to do so.
Accordingly, WNBA franchises eyeing the upcoming draft have noted that the volatility of the market is affecting first-round pick trades. Teams would be unwise to place their bets on every top NCAA prospect making the leap this April.