With only one NCAA women’s ‘Power 5’ conference basketball championship left to be played, four schools clinched their spot to go dancing this weekend. Duke, UCLA, Texas, and West Virginia officially secured their conference championships. Through the tournaments, we saw some expected top dogs dominate their way to victory, but we also saw some unexpected upsets.
March Madness is just around the corner. The bracket will be made official on Sunday, March 15. This gives these teams a little less than a week to bask in their victories and losses before turning their attention to their NCAA Tournament opponents. Here are a few things that could carry into the NCAA Tournament from these conference tournaments.
UCLA is the most dominant team in the nation
While UConn is ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25, UCLA has proven that it might be the best team in the NCAA. For the first time since week 9, UConn was not unanimously voted No. 1 in the AP Poll. The argument has been running all season — is UConn more impressive because they’re undefeated, or does UCLA’s tougher schedule make them the real deal? In my opinion, UCLA’s performances this weekend proved that they are top-top contenders.
On Sunday, the Bruins took on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship. UCLA quickly took control of the game, ultimately securing a 96-45 victory. Iowa averages 76.8 points per game this season, shooting at 48.9 percent from the floor. In the championship, UCLA was able to shut down one of Iowa’s biggest stars. Hannah Stuelke was held to 0 points. The entire Hawkeyes squad only shot 28 percent from the field.
UCLA’s five starting seniors are some of the most commanding players heading into the rest of March. Through the Big Ten tournament, Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice each averaged 16.7 points per game. Gianna Kneepkens averaged 15 points per game.
So yes, UConn might still be undefeated, and no one is saying that was an easy feat — but UCLA’s dominance was on full display this weekend. The argument surrounding UCLA being No. 1 in the nation definitely gained a bit more traction. The key takeaway: If we’re lucky enough to get a UConn vs. UCLA matchup in March, it will be electric.
Texas took over when it mattered most
The SEC Championship came down to two AP Top 5 teams — South Carolina and Texas. They split their regular-season games, with Texas winning the first and South Carolina winning the second. Although these games came down to the wire, both winning teams won by less than four. This game was a bit of a different story, though.
Texas came out swinging. They went on a 14-0 run to open this matchup, ultimately sending South Carolina into the second quarter trailing 12-27. While we’ve seen some Dawn Staley squads come back from these positions before, it just seemed like Texas knew losing was not an option. With these two teams being so close in the polls, winning was more advantageous than a title and a ring. It was projected that if Texas pulled off the win, they’d be given the third No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That seed happens to be playing in Fort Worth, Texas. So, essentially, the Longhorns will have home-state advantage through the Elite Eight.
The SEC has some of the scariest squads heading into March Madness. Obviously, the Gamecocks are always a threat. But Texas looked disciplined and motivated on its way to winning its first Big Ten Championship. You also have to worry about both LSU and Kentucky, who might be coming into the tournament with an extra chip on their shoulders after their Big Ten tourney performances.
These ACC teams are better than you think
It’s easy to look at the ACC Tournament and think, “The No. 1 seed won, there’s not much there.” But there are a few teams that should be coming out of the tournament with more confidence. Louisville, for starters, held on with Duke till the very end of the championship game. Duke ultimately pulled off the 70-65 OT victory; this was the first ACC final to go into overtime since 2009.
The Cardinals should be heading into the NCAA tournament with some belief that they will go far. Sophomore Imari Berry went off in the ACC tourney. In the semifinal, against North Carolina, Berry recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds. Against Duke, she had 18 points. The entire Louisville squad was able to keep up with the Blue Devils, with each player showing up in the biggest of moments.
Notre Dame is another ACC squad that shouldn’t necessarily be feeling too troubled heading into March Madness. If you asked me midseason, I wasn’t even sure if we’d be talking about them in March — but they are playing some of their best basketball right now. They closed out the regular season with a victory over Louisville. And in the ACC semifinals, they brought it down to the wire with Duke. If it weren’t for a couple last second bad shot selections, we could’ve seen them in the championship.
Pay attention to West Virginia
The Mountaineers have seemingly found their footing as the regular-season and conference tournaments have concluded — just in time to go dancing. To close out the regular season, West Virginia had won seven of their final eight matchups. The one loss came from TCU, who beat the Mountaineers 59-50. Well, West Virginia got them back when it mattered most — in the Big 12 Championship.
Seniors Sydney Shaw and Jordan Harrison showed up in the final. Shaw recorded 17 points to Harrison’s 21 points. The team’s leading scorer, Gia Cooke, had a big night during the semifinal. She recorded 14 points in the Mountaineers 48-47 victory over Colorado.
West Virginia has a solid resume this season. They beat Duke and Baylor earlier in the year. With this Big 12 championship victory, they should be feeling pretty good heading into the NCAA tourney. They could end up being a sneaky team that pulls off a couple of upsets.

