The Final Four is almost set! UConn and UCLA punched their tickets to Phoenix on Sunday, with the Huskies downing Notre Dame in Fort Worth, Texas, before the Bruins battled back against Duke in Sacramento, California.
Two more teams will seal their spots Monday, with Texas taking on Michigan (7 p.m. ET) before South Carolina faces off with TCU (9 p.m. ET). ESPN has you covered for all of the action, with Kendra Andrews, Charlotte Gibson, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel on site at both regionals, providing keys to the game for each team in action.
Be sure to come back after tipoff for live updates from both games!
Previewing the Elite Eight
7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Voepel’s prediction: Texas, 75-70
Charlie Creme’s prediction: Texas, 72-65
Andrews’ prediction: Texas, 80-64
Gibson’s prediction: Michigan, 75-73
Philippou’s prediction: Texas, 74-58
How the Wolverines can advance to the Final Four: The Wolverines are the last No. 2 seed standing after Iowa lost in the second round and Vanderbilt and LSU were eliminated Friday. To make history and advance to the program’s first Final Four, they’ll need sophomore stars Olivia Olson and Syla Swords to be great, but also get contributions from multiple players on offense. That, of course, might be difficult against a Texas team that is known for defending at a high level. Their prized sophomore class has never played this deep in the tournament, which the Longhorns will hope does not ultimately work against them. — Philippou
How the Longhorns can advance to the Final Four: The first half Saturday was one of the more impressive stretches we’ve seen from Texas, especially considering the Sweet 16 stage. The Longhorns look like a well-oiled machine that’s playing its best basketball at the right time. To keep that up, it always starts on the defense for coach Vic Schaefer, so his team will surely be zeroed in on slowing down the Wolverines’ star pair of Olson and Swords. Continuing to lean into their depth will also help the Longhorns: They finished Saturday’s game with five players scoring at least eight points. The size of Breya Cunningham (6-foot-4) and Kyla Oldacre (6-6) on the inside is something Michigan can’t match — its tallest players are 6-3 — so the Longhorns can look to take advantage there. — Philippou
9 p.m. ET, ESPN
Voepel’s prediction: South Carolina, 81-72
Charlie Creme’s prediction: South Carolina, 82-68
Andrews’ prediction: South Carolina, 75-57
Gibson’s prediction: South Carolina, 90-83
Philippou’s prediction: South Carolina, 77-61
How the Horned Frogs can advance to the Final Four: Two words: Olivia Miles. If you look at TCU’s slower starts, the key factor is Miles’ ability to take full control of the court in the second half. The second half is where Miles makes her magic. And if Miles and Marta Suarez can continue to be in sync on offense, TCU will force many defenses to surrender to its power in and out of the paint. Miles and Suarez scored or assisted on all 79 points for TCU. Keeping that momentum, the duo will be able to put up a fight against South Carolina’s defense. It’s Miles’ smooth and crafted passes that create multiple opportunities for the offense to rise to the occasion. Coming into Monday’s matchup, TCU was 4-2 this season when trailing at the end of the first. But from here, TCU will need to dominate on offense early and capitalize off Miles’ mastery at the lead. South Carolina’s power on defense will slow down TCU’s offense if the Horned Frogs don’t start their matchup strong in the Elite Eight. — Gibson
1:08
Olivia Miles drops near triple-double as TCU advances to the Elite Eight
Olivia Miles drops 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as TCU puts away Virginia 79-69.
How the Gamecocks can advance to the Final Four: It sounds simple, but against the Horned Frogs — a team South Carolina hasn’t played since 2024 (85-52 win), the Gamecocks have to keep up the same level of intensity and execution they’ve had through the first three games of the tournament.
South Carolina has opened the tournament with three consecutive 90-point games (including two 100-point games in the first two rounds) for the first time in program history. The team’s plus-135 point differential through the Sweet 16 is the fifth largest in tournament history. On Saturday, the offense was run through Ta’Niya Latson and Raven Johnson, who scored or assisted on 63 (67%) of South Carolina’s points. Johnson’s 18 points were a career high in the NCAA tournament. Latson finished with 28, two shy of her tournament career high.
If they keep that up, the Gamecocks have a good shot to make it to the Final Four for the sixth year in a row. — Andrews
Leave a Reply