It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and the most hectic. It’s also the time of the season when the best games are between teams that don’t have numbers next to their names.
This is a top-25 column, and we’ll get into how those teams fared during championship week, but their contests lacked the juice of the conference tournaments where every team was fighting for its NCAA Tournament life. The stakes of Michigan State losing to an unranked Illinois are mitigated when both teams will hear their names on Selection Sunday.
Advertisement
But in the world of the must-win automatic qualifiers, the drama delivered.
There was Lindenwood — which made the Ohio Valley title game despite giving up nine first-quarter 3-pointers in its semifinal matchup — trying to make an NCAA Tournament in its first year of Division I eligibility but falling short against Western Illinois. Two of the top three players in win shares in the country (both trail UConn’s Sarah Strong) faced off in the Summit League title game, when Brooklyn Meyer and South Dakota State denied Avery Koenen and North Dakota State a chance at their first NCAA berth.
An under-.500 South Alabama team gamely battled for four wins in the Sun Belt tournament despite losing players to suspension, falling short on the fifth day to a fresh James Madison squad. In the SoCon, a league with a tournament less stacked toward top seeds, another sub-.500 team, Samford, punched its ticket to the Big Dance and could be joined by fellow lucky loser Air Force if the Falcons can maintain their run in the Mountain West tournament.
Advertisement
Boise State needed a midrange jumper in the final six seconds to keep its postseason alive, while Radford had two point-blank looks for a tying 3-pointer but couldn’t force overtime against High Point.
Watching these players persevere through the weight of the moment is what makes March special. Even if their postseasons last only one more game, the journey to get that point is so fun to celebrate.
Now, on to my top 25:
|
Rank |
Team |
Previous rank |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
UConn |
1 |
|
2 |
UCLA |
2 |
|
3 |
Texas |
5 |
|
4 |
South Carolina |
3 |
|
5 |
LSU |
6 |
|
6 |
Vanderbilt |
4 |
|
7 |
Duke |
9 |
|
8 |
Louisville |
8 |
|
9 |
Ohio State |
14 |
|
10 |
Iowa |
12 |
|
11 |
Michigan |
7 |
|
12 |
Oklahoma |
10 |
|
13 |
TCU |
11 |
|
14 |
Maryland |
13 |
|
15 |
West Virginia |
17 |
|
16 |
Michigan State |
15 |
|
17 |
Ole Miss |
20 |
|
18 |
Minnesota |
16 |
|
19 |
North Carolina |
18 |
|
20 |
Notre Dame |
22 |
|
21 |
Kentucky |
19 |
|
22 |
Baylor |
21 |
|
23 |
Alabama |
24 |
|
24 |
Princeton |
25 |
|
25 |
South Dakota State |
NR |
Dropped out: Columbia (23)
Also considered: Illinois, Villanova, Washington
Delaney Thomas is Duke’s X-factor
Toby Fournier is Duke’s leading scorer, Ashlon Jackson leads the Blue Devils in made 3s, Taina Mair sets the table, and Riley Nelson had the clutch gene in the ACC tournament. But it’s Delaney Thomas who might have the most impact on Duke’s outcomes. The Blue Devils are 17.7 points per 100 possessions better with Thomas on the court, per CBB Analytics, and her value was clear as day in Duke’s ACC title win over Louisville.
Advertisement
In her team-high 43 minutes — coach Kara Lawson says the Blue Devils need Thomas’ communication to stay organized on the court — Thomas had a game-best 19 points and seven offensive rebounds. Those second chances were key to Duke’s victory; the Blue Devils outscored the Cardinals 18-13 on second-chance points and won by five points.
In the final two minutes of regulation, after Duke trailed by four, Thomas had two offensive rebounds, a put-back and the tying layup with four seconds left. She started overtime with another four points (two on a put-back) and the decisive offensive rebound with 26 seconds left, which set the stage for Nelson’s final 3-pointer.
Thomas and Jadyn Donovan were an often awkward frontcourt pairing in 2024-25, as neither had the ball skills or shooting to stretch the defense beyond the paint. Thomas has excelled starting next to Fournier thanks to the sophomore’s perimeter abilities. Sunday’s matchup was proof that Thomas can handle frontcourt responsibilities on her own, too, when Fournier is unavailable.
Jordan “Gimme That” Harrison earns two more home games for WVU
Every team would prefer to play at home than not, but West Virginia seems to have an identity tied to its home arena. “Press Virginia” is at its most disruptive in Morgantown, where the Mountaineers play six possessions faster, and create three more steals and 10 more points off turnovers than on the road.
Advertisement
Thanks to a defensive clinic from Big 12 defensive player of the year Jordan Harrison, West Virginia won the conference tournament title over TCU and will likely host two more games at home this season by moving into the top 16. Harrison, a senior, led the way with 21 points and four assists, but more importantly, helmed the defensive effort on Horned Frogs guard Olivia Miles. Miles was mostly ineffective from the second quarter onward due to foul trouble, and Harrison drew three of the four fouls on Miles. The Mountaineers were plus-7 when Miles was on the bench.
Harrison told ESPN pregame that she was Jordan “Gimme That” Harrison thanks to her penchant for forcing turnovers, and she had three steals in the win. She also swiped the Big 12 title from the defending champion Horned Frogs.
Harrison followed coach Mark Kellogg from Stephen F. Austin to West Virginia for the 2023-24 season and finally earned her first conference tourney championship in her final season. After the game, she was in tears on the broadcast, saying, “I’m just so happy, I can’t even think.” Now, Mountaineers fans can shower her with more appreciation in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
What should we make of the Big Ten beyond UCLA?
UCLA put in a dominant performance in Indianapolis, winning its second Big Ten tourney in two tries in historic fashion. Beyond UCLA, many questions persist about the conference’s upside in the NCAA Tournament.
Advertisement
Michigan has an Iowa problem, and the Wolverines better hope it doesn’t extend to other teams that have a strong inside presence. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes can’t be faulted for losing to the Bruins, but the margin of victory causes some concern since Iowa was largely noncompetitive in its regular-season losses to UCLA and UConn.
Michigan State, Maryland, Nebraska and USC all lost to lower-seeded teams in the conference tournament. The Trojans suffered in part because of an injury to Jazzy Davidson, and they head into the Big Dance with four straight losses.
The Big Ten has touted its depth all season, and Selection Sunday likely will validate that optimism. But most of these teams don’t appear to be playing their best basketball in March. With the conference looking to win its first national title since 1999, Big Ten teams below UCLA have to hope that at least being tested by the Bruins was enough to prepare them for the NCAA Tournament.
Is LSU a threat if it can’t beat South Carolina?
LSU suffered its 19th consecutive loss to South Carolina on Saturday — another heartbreaker that was in the balance in the final minutes. It’s a sour taste to end the SEC season, no doubt.
Advertisement
Nevertheless, the Tigers head into March with only five losses: two to South Carolina and one each to Kentucky, Texas and Vanderbilt. They’ve beaten Texas, Duke and good SEC teams such as Oklahoma (by about a bazillion points Friday). They have an elite offense and defense, and those numbers hold up when filtering out LSU’s weak nonconference schedule. LSU is deep, limits shots at the rim and has a bevy of explosive offensive players.
A similar recipe in 2023 led to a national championship, when the Tigers were aided by Iowa taking out the Gamecocks so they didn’t have to face that test. As Oklahoma will attest, this is a fearsome lineup. And it helps to have a head coach who has won it all before — not since 2017 has a first-time head coach won a national title.
Maybe it doesn’t matter that LSU keeps butting up against the ceiling that is South Carolina if the Tigers can find a way around their SEC rivals.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Advertisement
Duke Blue Devils, UCLA Bruins, South Carolina Gamecocks, West Virginia Mountaineers, Connecticut Huskies, LSU Lady Tigers, Michigan Wolverines, Women’s College Basketball
2026 The Athletic Media Company
