UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina are all back in the Final Four for the second consecutive season, only the second time that all four national semifinalists have repeated. The Huskies, Bruins, Longhorns and Gamecocks are coming off an Elite Eight round in which they won their games by an average of 23 points, the largest scoring margin in that round in tournament history.
These four teams have been atop the polls for the entire season, even if I personally deviated by putting Vanderbilt ahead of them in The Athletic’s power rankings at one point or another. The women’s tournament may finally be officially branded as March Madness, but the results are chalkier than ever.
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And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Even if parity is the goal of the NFL and every major men’s professional sports league, the women’s tournament shouldn’t chase that standard. Sustained success and brand names are good for college basketball. The women’s game has become popular thanks to the longevity of Geno Auriemma and UConn, Pat Summit and Tennessee, Tara VanDerveer and Stanford, Muffet McGraw and Notre Dame, and now Dawn Staley and South Carolina.
Cinderellas are fun in the first couple of rounds, bringing drama to the day-long slates of games. Goliaths are good for business when the tournament comes to a close. They draw troves of fans, and perhaps more importantly, just as many haters. When a crew like this makes the Final Four, everyone will have an opinion.
We’ve spent the entire season debating the merits of these teams. Yes, UConn was undefeated, but did the Huskies really have a better season than UCLA considering the gantlet the Bruins had to face? Texas and South Carolina split their meetings 2-1, but the Gamecocks didn’t lose to any other teams in regulation all season (their loss to Oklahoma was in overtime); do the Longhorns still have a clear advantage?
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Now, we have the opportunity to answer all those questions. This tournament won’t be looked back upon as fluky because a No. 1 seed lost early. The best teams are all here.
This could be a program-defining weekend for UCLA or Texas — the first national title in the NCAA era for the Bruins or the first in 40 years for the Longhorns — and by extension, coaches Cori Close and Vic Schaefer. It could punctuate the resume of South Carolina’s Raven Johnson or UConn’s Azzi Fudd, already-decorated winners who could add even more hardware before leaving for the WNBA.
The quality of the participants gives this Final Four real stakes. A lack of parity throughout college basketball doesn’t mean there isn’t parity within the top tier. Every potential champion will have earned the right to hoist a trophy and cut down the nets.
The way these teams have come together also bodes well for the state of college basketball. In the portal era, players hopscotch across the country annually in search of a better fit, or a bigger paycheck. But the mercenary, one-and-done teams aren’t the ones who chase the ultimate prize. It takes time to build a program; that the ones with continuity are still dancing is proof that other schools can’t take shortcuts. It’s better for the sport to have coaches and athletic departments willing to really invest.
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Storylines are deeper when they have been marinating for a few years. Iowa and South Carolina meeting in the 2024 national championship game was better because they had played in the Final Four a season earlier. The Huskies and the Gamecocks playing on the final weekend for the third time in five seasons adds to the rivalry, combining the history of the matchup with the two teams on the court.
Now, UCLA and Texas are building their own lore, just as the Hawkeyes did when they burst onto the national scene during Caitlin Clark’s run.
The Bruins and Longhorns may seem like old hat now, having spent the entire season favored to return to the Final Four, but before last season, neither had made it to a national semifinal since 1987 (even earlier for UCLA). This stage is open to newcomers, even if they have to suffer some heartbreak before entering. Nobody associated South Carolina with women’s basketball success until a decade ago; now the Gamecocks are an institution.
That’s the fun of powerhouses coming up against one another. The winner of this Final Four won’t just hang a banner and be forgotten in short order. It will be a stepping stone for greater success for their program or the continuation of a dynasty.
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If UConn boatraces the rest of the field again, this may all seem silly. But the last time a Final Four repeated in 1996, and the Huskies were the defending champions, they didn’t get the job done the second time. Iron sharpens iron. Greatness inspires greatness. The other three teams have spent a full year preparing to redeem themselves on this stage, against these opponents.
Aren’t we lucky to witness the fruits of their labor?
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
UCLA Bruins, South Carolina Gamecocks, Connecticut Huskies, Texas Longhorns, Women’s College Basketball, Opinion
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