NCAAW Update: South Carolina, UConn Clinch Titles

This will also be the final week of play in the Pac-12 after the destruction of one of the best women’s basketball conferences in the country. Six teams from the Pac-12 are ranked in the top 20 in the latest Associated Press poll.

The Gamecocks are still listed by our college basketball futures lines with the best odds of winning the national championship. After South Carolina came in at even money to win it all, LSU and Iowa are both at +800 followed by UConn and Stanford at +1400.

In a Clinch

South Carolina is the only undefeated team at the Division I level this season. The Gamecocks looked like a team that doesn’t plan on losing any time soon as they wrapped up the SEC regular-season title with a 103-55 win over Kentucky. Six players scored in double figures.

South Carolina has a three-game lead on defending national champion LSU with only games left against Arkansas and Tennessee.

In the ACC, Virginia Tech can earn the program’s first outright regular-season title with wins over either Notre Dame on Thursday or Virginia on Sunday – or a loss by Syracuse on Thursday against North Carolina State.

UConn secured yet another Big East title after rolling to a 104-67 win at DePaul on Sunday.

Oklahoma can take care of things in its final Big 12 season with a win over second-place Texas on Wednesday. If Texas wins, it could come down to Saturday when Texas welcomes Brigham Young to town and Oklahoma plays at Kansas.

Ohio State can clinch the Big Ten title on the home court of the rival Michigan Wolverines as the Buckeyes lead Iowa and Indiana by two games with two left to play.

Pac-12: End of An Era

While there is still a conference tournament to look forward to, Saturday will mark a sad final day in the proud history of the Pac-12 Conference.

With the majority of the teams heading to other conferences beginning next season, the only teams not going elsewhere are Oregon State and Washington State.

Stanford can clinch the regular-season title with a win at Oregon State on Thursday or with a victory at Oregon on Saturday.

The race for second place is more compelling with USC and Oregon State tied at 11-5. The winner of Monday’s UCLA-Colorado game also will move to 11-5 in Pac-12 play. The loser will fall into a tie with Utah for fifth in the standings.

Good luck trying to figure out what will happen in the Pac-12 tournament as Stanford has lost to USC and Colorado while USC has lost twice to Utah and has also lost to Colorado and UCLA. Oregon State suffered defeats to USC, UCLA, Stanford and USC. UCLA lost to USC, Utah, Stanford and Oregon State.

The final regular-season game in the Pac-12 as we knew and loved it will be on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET when UCLA visits Arizona.

A Look at the Polls

South Carolina remained the unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press poll and Ohio State is still checking in at No. 2.

Texas moved up two spots to No. 3 with Stanford falling one spot to No. 4 and Iowa tumbling from fourth to sixth.

POLL ALERT: Texas up to No. 3 behind South Carolina, Ohio State in AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll; Iowa drops to No. 6, UCLA, LSU, UConn all back in the top 10.

Full poll: https://t.co/ZpzgqczgyX pic.twitter.com/gpixzr4WdC

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) February 26, 2024

Virginia Tech goes from eighth to fifth to round out the top five.

UCLA and LSU both moved up four positions to No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, while UConn returned to the top 10 after jumping up five spots.

Game of the Week

No. 2 Ohio State at No. 6 Iowa

Sunday, March 3, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)

If Iowa has any hope of earning at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title, the Hawkeyes need to take of business when Ohio State comes to town.

Ohio State has won 14 games in a row and that included a 100-92 overtime win against Iowa on Jan. 21.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark had 45 points in the loss while Cotie McMahon led Ohio State with 33 points.

Both teams will play on Wednesday when Ohio State plays at Michigan and Iowa goes on the road to meet up with Minnesota.

Player of the Week

JuJu Watkins, Southern California

After being held under 20 points for just the second time in the last 11 games, the freshman had 42 points as the Trojans posted its second straight win over a ranked team with an 87-81 victory over Colorado.

Despite 30 points from Watkins, USC fell to Utah 74-68 on Sunday.

Watkins is still second in the nation, putting up 28.1 points per game.

Team of the Week

Virginia Tech Hokies

Virginia Tech extended its winning streak to 10 games as the Hokies are closing in on the ACC regular-season title.

The Hokies went on the road and beat a ranked Louisville team by 16 points as Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore combined for 49 points.

Facing a North Carolina team that just upset North Carolina State, Virginia Tech had another double-digit victory. Kitley’s 34 points led the Hokies to a 74-62 victory to clinch a share of the program’s first ACC regular-season championship.

Nationally Televised Top-10 Games

No. 13 Colorado at No. 8 UCLA, Monday, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

No. 5 Virginia Tech at No. 17 Notre Dame, Thursday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

No. 1 South Carolina at Arkansas, Thursday, 9 p.m. ET (SEC Network)

No. 4 Stanford at Oregon, Saturday, 5 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Tennessee at No. 1 South Carolina, Sunday, noon ET (ESPN)

No. 2 Ohio State at No. 6 Iowa, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)

No. 5 Virginia Tech at Virginia, Sunday, 6 p.m. ET (ACC Network)

Questions Of The Day