March Madness 2023: South Carolina women chasing third title

March Madness is here! Here is what to know about the women’sNCAA Tournament, including the favorites and underdogs as well askey games and how to watch:

TOP SEEDS

The top four seeds in the tournament are South Carolina,Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford. Each is in a region, sometougher than others (on paper). We break them down for you:

SOUTH CAROLINA (32-0): The defending national champions are theNo. 1 overall seed and the Greenville I Region breaks downfavorably. It includes two teams in No. 2 seed Maryland (25-6) andNo. 4 seed UCLA (23-9) who the Gamecocks beat earlier this season.South Carolina is loaded, with two-time Southeastern Conferenceplayer of the year Aliyah Boston and leading scorer Zia Cooke.

INDIANA (27-3): After a loss to Ohio State in the Big TenTournament semis, some wondered if the Hoosiers might miss out on atop seed. They landed it in the Greenville II Region and startagainst either Tennessee Tech or Monmouth. Mackenzie Holmes leadsIndiana with 22.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Top challengersinclude No. 2 seed Utah, No. 3 seed LSU and No. 4 seed Villanova,which is led by scoring sensation Maddy Siegrist.

VIRGINIA TECH (27-5): The Hokies won their first ACC Tournamentchampionship and will lead the Seattle 3 Region. Elizabeth Kitleyhas stepped things up down the stretch as Virginia Tech won itsfinal eight games. Virginia Tech could have to navigate No. 4 seedTennessee in the Sweet 16 and No. 2 seed UConn or No. 3 seed OhioState after that.

STANFORD (28-5): The committee looked to Stanford’s steadinessfor much of the season in giving it the top seed in the Seattle 4Region. The Cardinal are led by Cameron Brink and Haley Jones, whohave combined to score more than 28 points per game this season.Look for a potential high-wattage battle for the Final Four againstNo. 2 seed Iowa, led by national player of the year candidateCaitlin Clark.

GAMES TO WATCH

No. 3 seed Notre Dame (25-5) vs. No. 14 seed Southern Utah(23-6), Friday. The Fighting Irish’s chances for a deep run willcertainly be affected by how seriously do-everything leader OliviaMiles is hurt. She left the ACC Tournament quarterfinals two weeksago with a knee injury.

Monmouth (18-13) vs. Tennessee Tech (22-9), Thursday, ESPNU.Monmouth, surprise winners of the Colonial Athletic AssociationTournament, have not played in the NCAA tourney since 1983 and getthe chance to extend its stay in a First Four contest Wednesday.Either the Hawks or the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championsin Tennessee Tech, both 16 seeds, will have to take on top-seedIndiana on Friday.

No. 5 seed Louisville (23-11) vs. No. 12 seed Drake (22-9),Saturday. The Cardinals were a Final Four team a season ago andstart their journey back as a No. 5 seed. They’ll open thingsagainst Drake (22-9), which was seeded fourth in the MissouriValley Conference Tournament yet defeated Belmont to take theleague’s automatic bid. Louisville is led by Hailey Van Lith, who’saveraged 19.2 points a game this season.

No. 4 seed Villanova (28-6) vs. No. 13 seed Cleveland State(30-4), Saturday. Villanova features one of the country’s bestplayers in Maddy Siegrist, a two-time Big East player of year. TheWildcats are in a stacked region with top seed Indiana, No. 2 seedUtah and No. 3 seed LSU in front of them. Cleveland State won theHorizon League and made the NCAAs for the first time since2010.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The women’s tournament field is filled with stars, includingSouth Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, l ast season’s AP player of theyear who is back in hopes of winning a second straight nationaltitle. She will have plenty of competition for the honor this year,including sharp-shooting Iowa star Caitlin Clark.

The field is also remarkable for the high number ofinternational players, a growing trend in women’s basketball. Alas,some of the top programs are also dealing with injuries to keyplayers.

GO DEEPER

Gun violence has cost lives and disrupted college sports allseason, touching some of the top programs in college basketball.Coaches have been thrust into uncertain and unwelcome roles intrying to navigate the topic — as well as the fallout from theSupreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

HOW TO WATCH

Every game of the women’s tournament will be available on ESPN’snetworks or streaming, with fans encouraged to navigate to the“Watch” tab on ESPN’s sites. The NCAA will have a women’sbasketball specific March Madness app by AT&T.

There are multiple sites listing game times and other details,including the NCAA site.

BETTING GUIDE

Who’s going to win the national championship? The bettingfavorites as of this week to reach the Final Four are (in order):South Carolina, Indiana, Stanford, UConn, LSU and Iowa, accordingto FanDuel Sportsbook. The Gamecocks are a heavy favorite to becomethe first repeat champion in the women’s tournament since UConn wonthe last of four straight in 2016.

MARCH MADNESS CALENDAR

Selection Sunday set the brackets for First Four games (March15-16) and first- and second-round games (March 17-20) at multiplesites across the country.

Sweet 16 weekend brings a twist this year for the women’s teams:There will be two regional sites instead of four, with Greenville,South Carolina, and Seattle each hosting eight teams.

Where is the women’s Final Four? In Dallas, where the semifinalsare March 31 and the championship game is April 2. As it happens,the men’s Final Four is a four-hour drive down the road in Houstonthat same weekend.