Women’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight video games ranked as March Madness nears Final Four

Eight groups stay within the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

While the ladies’s event usually has much less upsets than the boys’s through the first and second rounds, the second weekend of March Madness is the place issues can get spicy and fascinating. This 12 months’s event didn’t disappoint.

No. 3 Duke upset No. 2 LSU on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Ashlon Jackson, and Hannah Hidalgo dropped a triple-double to energy No. 6 Notre Dame to a victory over No. 2 Vanderbilt. The Fighting Irish and Blue Devils are the one groups from the ACC remaining within the discipline, tied for essentially the most left with the Big Ten and SEC.

Each of final 12 months’s Final Four groups — UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina — are all No. 1 seeds this season, and are all nonetheless alive after surviving their Sweet 16 matchups in Fort Worth, Texas and Sacramento, California.

Can Hidalgo and Niele Ivey create extra March Madness magic? Will Duke proceed to avenge its non-conference losses? Can Raven Johnson lead South Carolina to its sixth consecutive Final Four?

Four of the eight groups nonetheless dancing have received nationwide championships, however Texas is aiming to finish an extended drought because it hasn’t received all of it since 1986. TCU and Michigan try to make the Final Four for the primary time, whereas Duke hasn’t been to the nationwide semifinals since 2006 when it misplaced to Maryland within the nationwide title sport.

Here’s all the Elite Eight video games on faucet for Sunday and Monday, ranked by watchability.

1. UCLA vs. Duke

Time/TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET (ABC)

Duke has a reasonably good file in run-it-back video games this season. They received each conferences towards Notre Dame and Louisville, beat Clemson within the ACC Tournament after shedding to the Tigers in February, beat Baylor by double digits within the second spherical of the NCAA Tournament after shedding to the Bears in Paris, and defeated LSU within the Sweet 16 after shedding to Kim Mulkey’s staff at house in December. Now, Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils will get the prospect to appropriate the file towards UCLA, after the Bruins beat them by 30 factors in Las Vegas in November. UCLA is driving a 28-game successful streak and hasn’t had a successful margin of lower than double digits since Feb. 8. The Bruins appear like a Goliath. Can Duke be a David?

2. South Carolina vs. TCU

Time/TV: Monday, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)

The Gamecocks regarded unstoppable in a wire-to-wire win over Oklahoma on Saturday, coasting to a 94-68 victory. Aaliyah Chavez received her 21 factors, however South Carolina largely neutralized the remainder of the Sooners. With a sixth consecutive journey to the Final Four on the road, the Gamecocks will tackle one other staff with a supremely proficient level guard in Olivia Miles, the nation’s chief in triple-doubles this season. Marta Suarez has emerged because the Robin to Miles’ Batman, dropping 33 factors within the Horned Frogs’ win over Virginia. Expect SEC Defensive Player of the Year Raven Johnson to be monitoring Miles.

3. UConn vs. Notre Dame

Time/TV: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (ABC)

No two groups within the historical past of ladies’s faculty basketball have performed extra occasions within the NCAA Tournament than Notre Dame and UConn, who meet for the ninth time within the Big Dance on Sunday. The former Big East rivals performed earlier this season with the Huskies taking a cushty 85-47 win. Can Hannah Hidalgo engineer one of many greatest upsets in event historical past, or will undefeated UConn proceed to roll in its quest to repeat as champions?

4. Texas vs. Michigan

Time/TV: Monday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Michigan is the staff that got here the closest to beating UConn this season, shedding by simply three factors in a impartial web site sport in November. Texas has suffered three losses all season and is the one staff to have crushed UCLA. Both groups are led by proficient trios, with Madison Booker, Rori Harmon and Jordan Lee main the Longhorns, whereas sophomores Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and Mila Holloway have powered the Wolverines.