Five teams that could win the NCAA women's basketball tournament, and 10 players who could ignite a title run

[Carnac]

Mechelle Voepel - 3/17/21

A popular refrain this March is that the 2021 NCAA women's basketball tournament is up for grabs, some saying as many as 10 teams are in the mix to win the championship. Part of the reason is the large amount of talent -- several standout seniors and three strong draft-eligible juniors -- lost to the WNBA in 2020. Plus there's the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which limited non-conference match-ups, and the fact that every team will be on neutral courts, with the entire tournament to be played in the San Antonio area.

But now that we've seen the bracket and gone over the match-ups, which teams appear to have the best chance to raise the trophy in the Alamodome on April 4? Here's a look at five championship contenders and why they stand out, plus 10 players who might help ignite a title run.

Five teams that could win the women's NCAA tournament, and 10 players who could ignite title runs

The NCAA tournament might feel more wide open. But now that we've seen the bracket, these five have the best shot at raising the trophy April 4.

www.espn.com

 

[chrissaran]

Why doesn't any writer ever mention that UConn has tried to become part of the ACC and the Big Ten. Those conferences don't want to add UConn because they would have to face them 2 or even 3 times each year.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Why doesn't any writer ever mention that UConn has tried to become part of the ACC and the Big Ten. Those conferences don't want to add UConn because they would have to face them 2 or even 3 times each year.

That's hilarious. They don't want to add UConn because they add no value in football. Women's hoops is 0% of the deciding factor in any conference realignment.

 

[HuskyNan]

That's hilarious. They don't want to add UConn because they add no value in football. Women's hoops is 0% of the deciding factor in any conference realignment.

Yep. Conference realignment is all about the football 💵. Maybe men’s hoops got brief consideration but women’s hoops and the Olympic sports were non-factors.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

That's hilarious. They don't want to add UConn because they add no value in football. Women's hoops is 0% of the deciding factor in any conference realignment.

I don’t want to start a shouting match but you are wrong, wrong, wrong about UConn’s football history. Getting an invite to the Fiesta Bowl is not chump change. UConn did have just as much value in football if not more than Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, Louisville and Wake Forest. That is the reason they never made it into the ACC or Big Ten. BC , Rutgers and Cuse in particular did not want a strong D1 football program in the northeast competing for and getting the few D1 talent high school players the northeast produced, and as such sabotaged UConn football when they lobbied to deny UConn an invite to a big time D1 conference. When Randy Edsall saw the writing on the wall he jumped ship and was hired by Maryland. Now he’s back at UConn trying to pick up the pieces.

 

[cbraarj]

Edsall does not deserve to be at UConn! What he did and the way he did it as far as leaving was the Cowards Way Out! The joke of Division 1 football!

I won't respond to any comments on that subject!

 

[HuskyNan]

I don’t want to start a shouting match but you are wrong, wrong, wrong about UConn’s football history. Getting an invite to the Fiesta Bowl is not chump change. UConn did have just as much value in football if not more than Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, Louisville and Wake Forest. That is the reason they never made it into the ACC or Big Ten. BC , Rutgers and Cuse in particular did not want a strong D1 football program in the northeast competing for and getting the few D1 talent high school players the northeast produced, and as such sabotaged UConn football when they lobbied to deny UConn an invite to a big time D1 conference. When Randy Edsall saw the writing on the wall he jumped ship and was hired by Maryland. Now he’s back at UConn trying to pick up the pieces.

nwhoops is talking about present day UConn, not the UConn of 2011. Reread his post and you’ll see what I mean

 

[nwhoopfan]

I don’t want to start a shouting match but you are wrong, wrong, wrong about UConn’s football history. Getting an invite to the Fiesta Bowl is not chump change. UConn did have just as much value in football if not more than Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, Louisville and Wake Forest. That is the reason they never made it into the ACC or Big Ten. BC , Rutgers and Cuse in particular did not want a strong D1 football program in the northeast competing for and getting the few D1 talent high school players the northeast produced, and as such sabotaged UConn football when they lobbied to deny UConn an invite to a big time D1 conference. When Randy Edsall saw the writing on the wall he jumped ship and was hired by Maryland. Now he’s back at UConn trying to pick up the pieces.

Okay, the program was stronger for a while. They weren't able to make a move at the time and now are between a rock and a hard place. But even if you see it differently than I do, I think you agree that fear of UConn's wbb is not what is preventing them from joining a P5.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Okay, the program was stronger for a while. They weren't able to make a move at the time and now are between a rock and a hard place. But even if you see it differently than I do, I think you agree that fear of UConn's wbb is not what is preventing them from joining a P5.

Of course. Quite the contrary, I think any women’s basketball league would love to have Geno and Chris coaching in their conference. Many in the AAC pretty much privately lamented the UConn men and women leaving for the Big East redux. The only times AAC women’s teams ever sold tickets in their home gyms was when UConn played a road game.

 

[JoePgh]

I still don't understand why an agreement couldn't be negotiated with a P5 conference to let UConn play men's and women's basketball in that conference, but not football and maybe not any other sport. Obviously there would have to be a big adjustment of the revenue sharing formula to reflect that.

After all, UConn men's hockey is in Hockey East despite UConn being in the Big East for other sports.

Where is it written that a school must be in the same conference for all sports?