The women's basketball carousel keeps spinning, as LSU searches for new talent after 1,000+ players entered the NCAA transfer portal.
The Tigers lost three guards this week. Freshman Bella Hines joined Divine Bourrage and Kailyn Gilbert in the portal on Tuesday. Hines averaged 13 minutes per game during LSU's 2025/26 campaign, while averaging 4.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists.
But coach Kim Mulkey’s program did see a boost, as 6-foot-5 No. 3 high school recruit Caroline Bradley committed to LSU. The Louisiana native plans to join the Tigers for the 2027/28 season.
"First and foremost, I want to win. But I also want to be developed and challenged over the course of the next four years," Bradley told ESPN.
"Coach Mulkey and the staff have worked to build a great relationship with me and my family... I can't wait to be a part of a family that runs deeper than basketball."
NCAA Transfer Portal Rattles Women's College Basketball
With a free range of movement and money to be made, the NCAA transfer portal can impact blue chip programs both positively and negatively as rosters become increasingly stacked.
Back-to-back Final Four participant Texas is also feeling the spin, as 2025 recruit Aaliyah Crump departed Austin after averaging 7.9 points per game across 24 appearances. Forwards Aaliyah Moore and Justice Carlton followed suit.
Big-name programs also stand to benefit from the talent pool, with key prospects like Iowa State center Audi Crooks and Virginia guard Kymora Johnson shopping for new teams.
UCLA and Texas are on a mission, looking to avenge last year's Final Four exits in a high-stakes semifinal clash with only one championship ticket up for grabs.
While semifinal losses cut both teams' 2025 March Madness dreams short, UCLA has even more to prove. Texas handed the Bruins their only regular-season defeat last November, dominating 76-65 at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas.
The Longhorns' physical backcourt forced UCLA into 20 turnovers in that meeting, converting those mistakes into 18 points. All-American center Lauren Betts managed just eight points on eight shots as Texas led by 20 at halftime.
"Coming out with a certain level of aggression is important and I'm going to make sure I do that," Betts said Thursday.
A fierce frontcourt battle is primed to steal the spotlight, as UCLA powerhouse Lauren Betts contends with Longhorns stars Kyla Oldacre and Madison Booker. Betts averaged 18.5 points and 7.6 rebounds this season while shooting 60.1% from the field. For her part, Booker averaged 19.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while leading Texas with 83 steals.
The No. 1 seeds have cruised through the NCAA tournament thus far, with Texas coming off a 36-point Elite Eight blowout over No. 2 seed Michigan. The Longhorns dominated four straight tournament opponents, allowing an average of just 49.4 points per game.
UCLA rebounded from its November loss by subsequently winning a program-record 28 straight games — including four double-digit NCAA tournament victories.
Texas is seeking its first national championship since its undefeated 1986 run. UCLA chases its first NCAA title, having won an AIAW championship in 1978, years before the NCAA took charge of women's basketball.
"This team right here, we're playing our best basketball, and we're doing it while having fun — we're doing it as a sisterhood," Booker said from Phoenix. "Win or lose, I'll be so proud of this group."
"I knew I just wanted to get back here again," Betts said. "This is not the end goal. We want to keep playing."
How to Watch UCLA vs. Texas in the 2026 Women's Final Four
UCLA tips off against Texas on Friday at 9:30 PM ET, live on ESPN.
The winner advances to Sunday's national championship game.
Undefeated defending champion UConn enters the Women's Final Four as the odds-on betting favorite to capture a back-to-back NCAA title, though the Huskies' futures have narrowed in recent weeks.
According to DraftKings, UConn sits at -160 to win the national championship. Texas and South Carolina follow at +550, while UCLA holds the longest Final Four odds at +600. The Huskies stood at -190 in January, and had hovered in the -200 range until recently.
UCLA faces an uphill battle despite cruising through the NCAA tournament as the second-highest overall seed. History appears to influence Vegas's skepticism toward the Bruins, as they next meet fellow No. 1 seed Texas on Friday with the Longhorns favored by 1.5 points.
Texas represents the only team to beat UCLA this season, impacting both the semifinal spread and the Longhorns' improved title odds.
UConn currently holds a 6.5-point edge over South Carolina in the weekend's other Final Four clash. The game marks a rematch of the Huskies' blowout 2025 championship victory over the Gamecocks.
South Carolina has drawn the most championship futures bets at both BetMGM and FanDuel. Meanwhile, UCLA has generated significant handle at BetMGM, making the Bruins the sportsbook's largest remaining liability.
The women's tournament continues showing strong growth in the betting markets. According to ESPN, Circa Sports has reached seven-figure handle across the tournament, with plans to make even more games available to bettors next season.
"We've been very pleased with the action," Circa Sports risk manager Dominick DeBonis told the publication this week.
"[We] are very excited about how the women's side of the game has grown in betting interest and national visibility."
The Final Four tips off in Phoenix on Friday at 7 PM ET, with the national championship game following on Sunday at 3:30 PM ET, live on ESPN.
Sarah Graves has become an unexpected storyline in No. 1 seed Texas’s 2026 NCAA tournament run, with the senior guard emerging as a fan favorite during the Longhorns’ Final Four push.
Graves, a former walk-on, delivered one of the tournament’s most memorable moments late in Texas’s 77-41 Elite Eight win over Michigan. With the game all but decided, Graves knocked down a long-range 2-pointer in the final seconds, adding an exclamation point as the Longhorns secured a second straight Final Four berth.
The reaction reflected Graves’s growing connection with the Texas fanbase. Throughout the game, the Fort Worth crowd chanted “Put in Sarah,” later erupting after she scored.
“I’m almost at a loss for words,” said the Keller, Texas native. “I almost started crying on the court again because looking around me and just being in the present moment and hearing everybody chant your name is a surreal feeling that I’ll never forget.”
Graves began her college career as a walk-on, logging just one minute as a freshman before gradually earning more opportunities in later seasons. But after sinking a pair of free throws in the Longhorns’ Sweet 16 win over Kentucky, the reserve player wasn’t sure she’d return to the court.
“I told my teammates that I would owe them dinner if they went up 30, and they did the job,” Graves said. “That’s why I was going so crazy on the bench because I knew I’d get another shot at it.”
How to Watch Sarah Graves and Texas Women’s Basketball in the 2026 Final Four
Texas women’s basketball now advances to the NCAA tournament’s Final Four in Phoenix, chasing its first national title since 1986.
The Longhorns tip off against fellow No. 1 seed UCLA on Friday at 9:30 PM ET, live on ESPN.
The top seeds have done it again, as No. 1 seeds South Carolina and Texas cruised through Monday's Elite Eight closers to join UCLA and UConn in booking just the second full-slate Final Four repeat in NCAA women's basketball tournament history.
First, Texas dominated No. 2 Michigan from the jump, ousting the Wolverines 77-41 in a team effort that saw four Longhorns score in the double-digits.
Then in the nightcap, South Carolina flew past No. 3 TCU 78-52 behind a 24-point, 12-rebound double-double from star sophomore forward Joyce Edwards plus 18 points and three steals off the bench from freshman guard Agot Makeer.
The two SEC giants will now gear up to meet fellow No. 1-seeds UConn and UCLA in Phoenix — and while the four teams are the same as in 2025, the Friday matchups look a little different this year.
Last year's Final Four pitted Texas and 2025 runners-up South Carolina against each other in the Final Four, with eventual champion UConn ousting UCLA in the other semifinal.
This weekend, however, will open with a championship game rematch between the Huskies and the Gamecocks before the Bruins square off against the Longhorns — the only team to defeat UCLA all season.
"The feeling of losing was not good last year," said South Carolina junior guard Tessa Johnson. "But this is a whole new year, whole new team."
How to watch the 2026 Final Four
The Final Four tips off with UConn vs. South Carolina at 7 PM ET on Friday, before UCLA takes on Texas at 9:30 PM ET.
Both semifinal games will air live on ESPN.
Monday's Elite Eight closers will see No. 1 teams Texas and South Carolina hunting Final Four spots alongside fellow top seeds UConn and UCLA — with women's basketball history on the line.
Should all No. 1 seeds advance, it will mark just the second back-to-back repeat Final Four in women's NCAA history, after the Bruins, Gamecocks, Huskies, and Longhorns all featured in the 2025 national semifinals.
To do so, Texas will take on No. 2 Michigan to open Monday's slate before South Carolina closes out the Elite Eight round against No. 3 TCU.
The Gamecocks will aim for a sixth straight Final Four ticket and a Friday date with UConn, while the Longhorns will face off against UCLA should they survive the Wolverines.
"We have a lot of room to grow, and I think we're growing at the right time," South Carolina guard Raven Johnson said. "Everybody's clicking. I feel like the ceiling is high for us."
Both SEC titans will face determined backcourts, as the Horned Frogs and Wolverines aim to crash the next weekend's party in Phoenix.
"Anybody can come out and have a night," said Michigan guard Syla Swords. "We're an exciting brand of basketball to watch, and we can beat anybody in the country."
"That's just another bonus," star TCU transfer guard Olivia Miles said after advancing to the Elite Eight. "I truly feel like the people around me have helped me to love basketball again."
How to watch Texas, South Carolina in the Elite Eight
The Elite Eight closes up shop on Monday night, with No. 1 Texas taking on No. 2 Michigan at 7 PM ET before No. 1 South Carolina tips off against No. 3 TCU at 9 PM ET.
Both clashes will air live on ESPN.
Texas basketball secured a No. 1 seed in the 2026 NCAA tournament, guaranteeing the Longhorns home-state March Madness advantage all the way to the Final Four in Phoenix.
Texas earned the tournament's No. 3 overall seed on a 31-3 record, and subsequently will host first and second-round games at Austin's Moody Center. If coach Vic Schaefer and team advances past the opening weekend, they'll then travel to Fort Worth for this year's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.
"I'll take this team to Timbuktu," Schaefer said after winning the SEC Tournament on March 8th. "I don't care. They'll go wherever. They don't care. They're good enough."
Texas will next face a First Four contender, opening its March Madness run on Friday against either Missouri State (22-12) or Stephen F. Austin (25-9). The two bottom seeds square off Wednesday night — also at Moody Center — to determine who advances to face the Longhorns.
The winner of Friday's first-round clash would meet either Oregon (22-12) or Virginia Tech (23-9) in Sunday's second round. Potential regional opponents include second-seeded Michigan, third-seeded Louisville, fourth-seeded West Virginia, and fifth-seeded Kentucky.
Texas basketball has won its last 42 games at Moody Center, including all 18 home contests this season.
"You can't get to Fort Worth if you stub your toe in Austin," said star point guard Rori Harmon. "It's not going to be easy."
Schaefer the program ahead of the 2020/21 season, leading Texas to a 7-1 record in March Madness games played in Austin. The Longhorns' lone home loss came in 2023, when No. 4 seed Texas fell to No. 5 Louisville in the NCAA tournament's second round.
Forward Madison Booker also embraced her team's unique postseason opportunity.
"March is the best time to play basketball," she said.
How to Watch Texas Basketball Tip Off 2026 March Madness Action
Texas basketball tips off NCAA tournament first-round play on Friday at 4 PM ET, live on ESPN.
Texas women's basketball star Madison Booker is making moves off the court, becoming the first student-athlete to sign with NBA superstar — and Longhorns alum — Kevin Durant as part of the Houston Rockets forward's new NIL initiative in partnership with Nike.
As the first member of "Team KD," Booker will now exclusively wear Durant's Nike footwear and apparel as part of a comprehensive program designed to benefit select Longhorn basketball standouts.
"It means a lot to be a Nike athlete," the Texas junior said in a Tuesday statement. "Honestly, it's a blessing. I think that's also part of why I came to UT — the opportunities here are amazing."
Booker has anchored the Longhorns' lineup since her breakout freshman year, stepping up in the wake of fellow standout Rori Harmon's 2023/24 season-ending ACL tear.
The 20-year-old has only gained momentum since then, becoming the first-ever freshman to win Big 12 Player of the Year before adding an SEC Player of the Year title to her resume last season.
Fueled in part by Booker, Texas women's basketball has excelled in recent years, most recently winning the 2026 SEC championship on Sunday behind an 18-point game-leading finale performance from the tournament MVP.
"Nike (and KD) couldn’t have a better person representing them than Madison Booker," said head coach Vic Schaefer. "Madison has always said she's modeled her game after KD, and the hard work she's put into her craft truly shows."
Selection Sunday is fast approaching, after four No. 1 seeds emerged from 2026 conference tournaments to set the stage for the March Madness bracket.
UConn remains the overall top seed despite questions about whether UCLA might deserve the spot, while SEC tournament winner Texas jumped South Carolina to claim the third seed. The Longhorns victory allows the team to stay close to home with potential games in Fort Worth, while South Carolina heads to Sacramento to tip off regional play.
UCLA crushed Iowa 96-45 to capture the Big Ten tournament title, with the Bruins holding advantages in key metrics with 18 Q1 wins and one of the nation's toughest schedules. However, the NCAA selection committee already placed undefeated UConn at No. 1 in both Top 16 reveals this season.
Duke claimed the fourth No. 1 seed by winning both the ACC regular season and tournament championships, after the Blue Devils beat Louisville in overtime to secure the top line.
West Virginia broke into the Top 16 for the first time since 1992 by upsetting TCU 62-53 in the Big 12 championship, with the Mountaineers subsequently hosting NCAA tournament games.
However, the bubble remains tight heading into March 15th's Selection Sunday. Arizona State boosted its resume with two Big 12 tournament wins, while Richmond survived despite losing in the Atlantic 10 semifinals and Nebraska hangs on despite a first-round exit.
How to Watch Selection Sunday's March Madness Bracket 2026 Reveal
Selection Sunday arrives March 15th at 8 PM ET on ESPN, with 23 automatic bids remaining undecided as the 2026 bracket continues to take shape this week.
Texas lifted its first-ever SEC women's basketball tournament trophy on Sunday, as the No. 4 Longhorns topped No. 3 South Carolina 78-61 to avenge last year's conference championship loss.
Texas laid a strong foundation for the upset victory with a 27-point first quarter, jumping out to an early 14-0 lead behind five forced turnovers plus tournament MVP Madison Booker's hot hand.
"I had some kids that were here on a mission," Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer said postgame. "I just felt like my group was ready. They have really responded in the last three weeks and are in a different zone right now."
Sunday's win should secure Texas a top-seeded entry into the 2025/26 NCAA women's basketball tournament, while the Gamecocks must now await their fate in this weekend's Selection Sunday bracket reveal.
The 17-point loss marks South Carolina's worst tournament loss since 2011, snapping the program's three-year title-winning streak.
"Our team knows we didn't play our best basketball, not nearly what we're capable of doing," said head coach Dawn Staley.
That said, Staley isn't ruling out another NCAA trophy.
"I told them that the last time we lost in this situation, we won the national championship," the Gamecocks sideline leader noted, referencing South Carolina's 2022 NCAA tournament run. "It might be the very thing this team needs."