The NCAA women’s basketball conference tournaments are here, a phrase that most did not think would happen after the last year of a worldwide pandemic. It will look different, but the brackets are starting to take shape for both the conferences and the NCAA tournament.
The second revelation in the top 16 by the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee will take place on Sunday, February 28, in a 30-minute special on ESPN at 5 pm ET. He is one day ahead of his slot originally scheduled for Monday night during the interval between Baylor and Texas.
Connecticut, led by sensational freshman Paige Bueckers, appears to have a firm foothold in first place. But losses below them pushed some teams out or into containment. Meanwhile, regular season titles are at stake.
No. 4 Stanford won the Pac-12 regular season title for the first time since 2014 with his victory over No. 9 Arizona on Monday night. It is the 24th title of the regular season for the Cardinal. No. 6 Louisville controls the ACC, but can lose the crown after losing to FSU. The Cardinals close against Notre Dame with NC State in second place in the standings.
And the SEC is poised for many more surprises in the final week of the regular season. South Carolina’s No. 5 and Texas A&M’s No. 3 will end what has been an exciting slate at that conference.
The full weekend schedule is here. All games ended on Wednesday afternoon.
No. 19 Kentucky (15-6, 8-5) at No. 17 Georgia (17-4, 9-4)
Thursday, 19h SECN
WHY TO WATCH: Kentucky was the final seed in the team’s first revelation in the top 16 and lost 21 points against South Carolina the following weekend.
Georgia was ranked 12th overall and the final team in the 3 seed row. They enter the final weekend in a four-game winning streak that includes an overtime victory over Alabama and a two-point victory over Tennessee.
They are struggling to position themselves for the SEC tournament starting March 3. Georgia is currently third and Kentucky is fifth, with Tennessee (13-6, 7-4) in the middle.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: The key to finishing Kentucky is to finish Rhyne Howard, who averages 19.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. But even when she plays well – like a 32-point game in January’s clash with South Carolina – it is not enough to win without help. Look for Chasity Patterson, a senior guard who leads the team in steals and is second in scoring.
Georgia is the SEC’s best defensive team and is the only team to rank in the top 5 in all defensive categories. They allow an average of 59.1 points per game for opponents and an average of 6.4 blocked shots per game. The Jenna Staiti center has half of them (3.1 BPG) and leads the team in the score of 13.8 points per game.
No. 11 Indiana (14-4, 12-2) at No. 15 Ohio State (13-4, 9-4)
Saturday, 3pm, BTN
WHY TO WATCH: Indiana barely reached the top 16 in the first revelation, reaching 15th, despite being in ninth place on NET. All four defeats are against teams currently ranked (Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, Ohio) by an average margin of six points. The Buckeyes are the last notable team in their lineup before the start of the Big Ten tournament and they will try to avenge a defeat to look better in the eyes of the NCAA committee.
The Ohio state season is coming to an end as the program has self-imposed a post-season ban due to possible violations. The Buckeyes won the Big Ten tournament in 2018 and lost to Maryland in the championship game last year.
LAST MEETING: Ohio State won 78-70 on January 28. The Buckeyes overcame Indiana by 25 to 16 in the final frame and were led by 25 points from Braxtin Miller and 12 rebounds from Dorka Juhasz. Grace Berger scored 26 for Indiana, who scored 1 of 14 in the 3-point streak.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Mackenzie Holmes, of Indiana, is one of the best snipers of the conference, hitting 56.8% of his shots and averaging 17.3 points per game. She is also one of the best low defenders, averaging 2.7 blocks per game. Grace Berger is often preparing for her, averaging 5.4 assists per game
Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon is a 50 percent shooter averaging 16.9 points per game, the best on the team. Doka Juhasz has an average of 14.9 points, but has fought on the free-throw line (28 to 65). His 11.2 rebounds per game is second in the Big Ten, behind Michigan’s national player of the year, Naz Hillmon of Michigan.
The Buckeyes are in 10th place in the country in score (82.3 PPG), good for the third place in the conference. Indiana’s strength is in defense, allowing for a second best conference average of 59.4 points per game. Your winning margins are roughly the same.
No. 5 South Carolina (18-3, 13-1) at No. 3 Texas A&M (20-1, 11-1)
PRIOR: Texas A&M plays in Alabama (15-6, 8-6) on Thursday night, while South Carolina hosts Ole Miss (9-9, 3-9).
WHY TO WATCH: This will probably be the game of the weekend and has been circulating on the calendars for a long time. These two teams are the best at the SEC, which is saying a lot this year, given the talent from top to bottom. The SEC led all conferences with five teams in the top 16 NCAA placements, led by South Carolina in 2nd overall and Texas A&M in 5th overall, just outside the 1 seed row.
A lot has changed since then, scrambling ESPN’s projections for the seed lines and what the committee is thinking about before the second reveal. South Carolina fell to Tennessee in another game that they were supposed to win in the end, while Texas A&M benefited from the defeat in Louisville, then ranked third.
This game can determine the champion of the regular season conference and therefore the # 1 seed in the possibly best post-season conference tournament.
REMARKABLE: Texas A&M are 8-0 against qualified teams this season and their only loss is in the extra time for LSU in mid-January. South Carolina has defeats against teams ranked in NC, Connecticut and Tennessee.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Gamecocks bring the block city every night with Aliyah Boston (3.2 BPG) and Victaria Saxton (1.7). Boston dominates the tables, but can get into trouble early and easily. The defense duo of Zia Cooke (15.9 PPG) and Destanni Henderson (12.2 PPG) can take over when necessary.
N’dea Jones averages a double-double (12.0 PPG, 10.2 RPG) for Texas A&M. She scored a total of 19 points in the last four games, throwing 5 out of 20. The Aggies play around a balanced group of seniors and have more experience in winning big games.
More from Yahoo Sports: