March Madness: How to watch and what to watch in the women’s NCAA Tournament

All four No. 1 seeds remain alive but one No. 2 seed has departed as the NCAA Tournament in women’s basketball heads to the regional semifinals.

Defending national champion UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas are the top seeds in their respective regions and all advanced to the Sweet 16 without much trouble. The tournament’s big surprise is Virginia, the first women’s team ever to go from the First Four to the Sweet 16. Virginia edged Arizona State 57-55 in the First Four and outlasted Georgia 82-73 in overtime in the round of 64. Then the Cavaliers pulled off an 83-75, double-overtime stunner over Iowa, the No. 2 seed in the Sacramento 4 Region.

UConn is seeking its 13th national title. UCLA, Texas and South Carolina are attempting to return to the Final Four as well.

The annual tradition that is the NCAA Tournament opens the door for thousands of fans to fill out brackets and take a shot at winning the office pool.

For the first time, the NCAA is punishing teams that do not provide player availability reports. Fines start at $10,000. And if you like the tourney at 68 teams, enjoy the moment! Discussions continue on whether to expand the field by at least four teams and possibly more.

The betting favorites

According to BetMGM Sportsbook, the favorite to win the national championship is UConn (minus-300). The teams with the next-best odds are UCLA (plus-475), Texas (plus-700) and South Carolina (plus-900). LSU (plus-1700) is the next on the list.

Games to watch

Vanderbilt (29-4) vs. Notre Dame (24-10), Friday, 2:30 p.m. Eastern. This Fort Worth 1 Region semifinal features two of the nation’s top players in Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo. Blakes is the top Division I scorer, while Hidalgo is third. Hidalgo also leads Division I in steals.

LSU (29-5) vs. Duke (26-8), Friday, 10 p.m. Make sure to stay up late and catch this Sacramento 2 Region matchup. LSU won 93-77 at Duke on Dec. 4 as part of the Blue Devils’ 3-6 start. Duke has gone 23-2 since.

Michigan (27-6) vs. Louisville (29-7), Saturday, 12:30 p.m. Louisville gutted out a 69-68 victory over Alabama to earn a Fort Worth 3 Region semifinal meeting with Michigan and its high-scoring duo of Olivia Olson and Syla Swords.

TCU (31-5) vs. Virginia (22-11), Saturday, 8:30 p.m. Both teams survived close calls to reach this Sacramento 4 Region semifinal. While Virginia has played three overtime sessions in its last two games, TCU also needed overtime to beat Washington 62-59 on Sunday. Virginia’s in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000.

How to watch the tournament

Every game of the women’s tournament will be aired — here is a schedule — on ESPN’s networks and streaming services. The championship game will be aired on ABC for a fourth straight season.

Who is playing

There were 31 automatic bids for league tournament champions. The selection committee then picked 37 at-large teams. The full field was revealed March 15. The Sweet 16 includes UConn, Duke, Kentucky, LSU, Louisville, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, TCU, UCLA, Vanderbilt and Virginia.

When the Madness continues

The second week of the tournament takes place at two sites: Fort Worth and Sacramento. The Sweet 16 matchups will take place March 27-28, with regional finals March 29-30.

The Final Four in Phoenix on Friday, April 3, begins at 7 p.m. Eastern and the championship game begins at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, April 5.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness