South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao (0) drives to the basket during the second half against Duke in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight on Sunday in Birmingham, Ala. Associated Press
Three No. 1 seeds will be in the Final Four of the women's NCAA Tournament. But it's the No. 2 seed favored to win the title in Tampa, Florida.
South Carolina reached its fifth straight Final Four with a 54-50 win over Duke. The Gamecocks will face fellow top seed Texas on Friday in their bid to become the first repeat NCAA champion since UConn's run of four straight from 2013-16.
The tourney's overall 1 seed, UCLA, knocked off LSU 72-65 to advance to its first women's Final Four behind another big game by Lauren Betts. The 6-foot-7 All-American had 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots despite sitting out the second quarter.
The Bruins will face No. 2-seed UConn, which is BetMGM Sportsbook's favorite to win it all. The Huskies advanced to the program's record 24th Final Four with a 78-64 win over USC.
Games to watch
Texas (35-3) vs. South Carolina (34-3), Friday 7 p.m. eastern. An all-SEC showdown, and the teams are familiar with each other even though the Longhorns are new to the league this season. The teams split two regular-season meetings, but the Gamecocks beat Texas for the SEC Tournament title by 17 points.
UConn (35-3) vs. UCLA (34-2), Friday 9 p.m. eastern. UCLA will ride the play of Betts, who has been virtually unstoppable during the tournament. Paige Bueckers is pursuing her first national title after a storied career at UConn, but the Huskies have standout players to help in Azzi Fudd and freshman Sarah Strong.
How can I watch the tournament?
The Final Four games will be broadcast on ESPN, and the championship game on ABC. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Who are the favorites?
The top four betting favorites going into the Final Four are (in order): UConn, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
When are the games?
The Final Four is in Tampa on Friday night, with the championship game at 3 p.m. eastern Sunday. A year ago, the title game drew a bigger television audience than the men’s title game for the first time, with an average of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark.
