Special Edition: Mad, bonkers, completely off its head

The women’s 68-team, single-elimination bracket works just the same as the men’s — after the First Four, there’ll be six rounds of high-stakes hoops, culminating with the April 6th national championship.

• And this year, the women’s and men’s tournaments are even more aligned because for the first time ever, women’s teams will be paid for playing (and advancing) in the bracket, a long-overdue perk men’s squads have received for years. About time.

The biggest difference between the women’s and men’s tourney structures? Location, location, location. Starting in the first round through the Elite Eight, each men’s bracket quadrant or “region” is played in a neutral city, but the women’s first two rounds are scattered across the country.

• The top four seeds from each quadrant host the first two rounds on their home courts — a massive advantage the top men’s teams are not afforded.

• For example, in the women’s bottom-left quadrant, No. 1 seed USC hosts their first-round game against No. 16 UNC Greensboro and the second-round matchup between the winner of their game and the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game.

• The quadrant’s next three best teams — No. 2 UConn, No. 3 Oklahoma, and No. 4 Kentucky — also play host for those first two rounds.

From there, the remaining contenders will travel to neutral sites. Spokane, WA, hosts the left side of the bracket, aptly named Spokane 1 and 4, for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, while the right side of the bracket, Birmingham 2 and 3, will head to — you guessed it — Birmingham, AL.

• The four teams still dancing advance to the sport’s biggest stage: the Final Four and national championship hosted in Tampa, FL. Madness, indeed.

🐻 UCLA Bruins (Spokane 1): The Bruins have been historically good, weaving together their first 30-win season in program history and rattling off 22 straight double-digit dubs in the process. UCLA has everything they need to go the distance: a superstar in junior Lauren Betts, the Robin to Betts’ Batman in junior Kiki Rice, and the depth to keep the wheels turning. It’s net-cutting or bust.

❤️ South Carolina Gamecocks (Birmingham 2): The defending champs felt snubbed after the aforementioned Bruins snagged the No. 1 overall seed — but head coach (HC) Dawn Staley’s squad is used to silencing the haters, and the extra motivation is bad news for Gamecock adversaries as South Carolina hoops for its third title in four years.

🐂 Texas Longhorns (Birmingham 3): The Longhorns made a splash their first year in the SEC, winning a share of the regular-season conference title and enjoying a stint atop the AP Poll for the first time in more than two decades. The only stain on their résumé is abysmal three-point shooting, a stat their best-in-the-SEC defense works their tail off to make up for.

💛 USC Trojans (Spokane 4): The Trojans are so back, and the hometown kid, sophomore and Player of the Year frontrunner JuJu Watkins, is leading the charge. USC’s only improved since last year’s Elite Eight run, adding the country’s best freshman class and a wingwoman for Watkins in grad transfer Kiki Iriafen as they look to make the program’s first Final Four since 1986.

🚨 Stop what you’re doing — have you made your picks for The GIST’s women’s and men’s college basketball bracket challenges? Whether you’re flipping a coin for every matchup or overanalyzing those No. 8 vs No. 9 seed dilemmas, time’s almost up.

• The men’s bracket deadline is tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET — submit up to three brackets before the first round tips off.

• The women take the court a day later, giving you a bonus day to make your picks before Friday at 12 p.m. ET. Hoop to it.

And if you’re itching for more opportunities to make March more interesting, FanDuel is offering live bets all tournament long, including prop bets on women’s players — so you can back your favorite team and your favorite star. And that’s on leveling the playing field.

🐯 No. 3 LSU Tigers (Spokane 1): Full disclosure, the Tigers lost three of their last four games with leading scorer, junior Flau’Jae Johnson, sidelined due to injury. Then, senior double-double machine Aneesah Morrow left the SEC semifinals early. LSU’s success will hinge on the availability of their trifecta — Johnson, Morrow, and sophomore Mikaylah Williams. Health is wealth.

😈 No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (Birmingham 2): The Blue Devils went scorched earth in the ACC tournament, snagging their first conference title since 2013 and becoming the only ACC team to log wins against every conference opponent this season. Now, HC Kara Lawson’s surging squad is dancing into the tourney with their highest ranking since 2017.

💚 No. 3 Notre Dame (Birmingham 3): It’s been all green but definitely not all grand for the Irish, who’ve lost three of their last five games. But the dynamic duo of senior Olivia Miles and sophomore Hannah Hidalgo shouldn’t be underestimated: At one point this season, ND had won 19 straight games and were No. 1 in the AP Poll. They just have to rediscover that mid-season magic.

🐕 No. 2 UConn (Spokane 4): The perennial powerhouse Huskies haven’t hoisted the trophy in eight seasons as injuries have decimated HC Geno Auriemma’s squad in recent years. Now healthy, the three-pronged attack of senior Paige “Buckets” Bueckers, grad student Azzi Fudd, and freshman Sarah Strong is poised for a deep tourney run.

🦃 No. 10 Harvard Crimson (Spokane 1): Should Harvard pack their scissors? Probably not, but fresh off winning their first-ever conference title, the Crimson could certainly bust a few brackets. HC Carrie Moore boasts one of the best defenses in the country, while senior Harmoni Turner has been hooping, netting an Ivy League tournament–record 44 points in the semis.

🏔️ No. 6 West Virginia Mountaineers (Birmingham 2): Another defensive juggernaut, the Mountaineers’ D is the best in the Big 12: WVU’s crushing pressure generates nearly 24 turnovers per game, first among all Power Four programs. Dancing for the third straight season, the Mountaineers won’t bow out quietly.

🧡 No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers (Birmingham 3): The Vols are the only team to play in every single women’s tournament, amassing an incredible 43 consecutive appearances. Supermom HC Kim Caldwell’s team plays fast and hard, leading the SEC in scoring by averaging 87.2 points per game. Just giving the folks a little sizzle.

🐱 No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats (Spokane 4): These Cats are crossing their fingers that 6-foot-6 senior Ayoka Lee (who’s been nursing a foot injury) can put on her dancing shoes and pick up right where she left off. Kansas State was a dominant 18-1 with Lee on the court and a middling 8-6 without her.

⚡If all four No. 1 seeds advance to the Final Four, both national semifinals would feature conference championship rematches, pitting SEC foes South Carolina and Texas and Big Ten adversaries UCLA and USC against each other once more.

⭐ Though the madness is intensifying, upsets are far less common on the women’s side of the bracket. In fact, No. 14, No. 15, and No. 16 seeds are a combined 1-360 in the tournament’s 42-year history.

• And the lowest seed to win it all is No. 3, a feat that’s occurred only three times in tournament history: North Carolina (1994), Tennessee (1997), and LSU (2023).

❌ From soliciting walk-ons two seasons ago to winning their first-ever conference title this year, No. 2 seed TCU has had a glow up for the ages — but it’s hard to celebrate a program that continues to start grad student Sedona Prince despite numerous allegations of sexual and physical abuse.

🧠 The Ivy League is sending three teams to this year’s tournament, the most in conference history: The aforementioned No. 10 seed Harvard, plus First Four contenders Princeton and Columbia. Brains and brawn.

🌲 Stanford won’t be dancing for the first time in 36 years, snapping the second-longest appearance streak in tournament history.

• In addition to legendary HC Tara VanDerveer’s retirement, losing top-tier talent like Cameron Brink (LA Sparks) and Kiki Iriafen (USC) and conference realignment has the Cardinal squarely in their rebuilding era.

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