The women’s college basketball season can often be difficult to predict, but we usually know which teams have a chance to win it all by around mid-January. Well, here we are and here we’re breaking down the top contenders in women’s college basketball.
Which teams can realistically win the national title. Here are the top women’s college basketball National Championship contenders.
Top Contenders For a Women’s College Basketball National Championship
10) Kentucky Wildcats
Typically, it’s Kentucky’s men’s team that turns heads, but this season the women are on a roll. The Wildcats earned their best AP poll ranking in four years and have been blowing out the competition.
The offense is one of the best in basketball, with five players averaging double-digit points per game. They’re led by senior guard Georgia Amoore, who is scoring in double-figures for the fifth-straight season, with 18 points per game.
9) TCU Horned Frogs
Led by Oregon Ducks transfer Sedona Prince and former LSU Tiger and Louisville Cardinal Hailey Van Lith, the Horned Frogs are again in position to compete. Last year, a rash of injuries doomed TCU’s promising 14-0 start.
This year, the Horned Frogs are deeper, healthier, and more balanced. The Big 12 seems like a two-team race between the Horned Frogs and Kansas State Wildcats, and the winner of their Feb. 5 meeting should be in the driver’s seat.
8) Ohio State Buckeyes
The undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes are rolling so far this year, but have only faced one top-25 foe. They’ll face three of the top eight in the next three weeks, so we should have a much better idea of the Buckeyes’ strength by mid-February.
They’re balanced and deep, with five players averaging double-digit points and all 10 players in the rotation averaging at least 13 minutes per game.
7) LSU Tigers
Angel Reese may be gone, but Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow are playing at a high level. We still don’t know much about the LSU Tigers as they’ve only played two top 25 teams.
Despite being undefeated in SEC play, the Tigers have won just conference game by more than 10 points. We’ll know more when they head to South Carolina on Jan. 23.
6) Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns don’t mess around with many jump shots — only one player is averaging more than one made three per game — so they can struggle if a team packs the interior.
That being said, the forward trio of Madison Booker, Taylor Jones, and Kyla Oldacre is averaging a combined 36 points and 20 rebounds per game, making the Longhorns one of the best interior teams in women’s college basketball.
5) UConn Huskies
Never count out Geno Auriemme (Or Paige Bueckers). The two-headed monster of Bueckers and Sarah Strong is one of the best in the country. Can the Huskies get enough out of their role players to make a deep NCAA Tournament run?
We’ll learn a lot about the Huskies when they head to Columbia to play South Carolina on Feb. 16.
4) Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Aside from back-to-back uncharacteristic losses, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been one of the best teams in the country. They’ve beaten three of the top seven teams in the country by double digits and are one of the biggest threats in the country.
The Irish are lethal from long range, boasting the best three-point percentage in the country. They live and die by the three, though, and an off night in the NCAA Tournament could doom their championship aspirations.
3) USC Trojans
Any team with both a superstar and stifling team defense will find themselves near the top of the list of National Title contenders.
Sophomore guard Juju Watkins is the favorite to win the Naismith Player of the Year award, averaging over 25 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The Trojans are also giving up just 54 points per game. A Feb. 13 matchup with UCLA looms large.
2) UCLA Bruins
They’re undefeated, eighth in points allowed per game, and led by one of the best post players in the country. They’ve also beaten the No. 1 team on this list already this season.
The only thing keeping the UCLA Bruins out of the top spot here is a lack of deep postseason experience. For now, they’re playing the best basketball in the country and look poised for a deep postseason run.
1) South Carolina Gamecocks
Though the Gamecocks lost in convincing fashion to the UCLA Bruins earlier this season, Dawn Staley’s squad has the experience and the depth needed to win it all. If they don’t, the lack of a true post presence for the first time in a decade could be their unraveling.
That being said, this is the best group of guards Staley has ever had, led by the trio of Te-Hina Paopao, MiLaysia Fulwiley, and Tessa Johnson. True freshman superstar Joyce Edwards is leading the way with just under 13 points per game on the country’s most-balanced scoring attack.
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