As March Madness hype rages on, fans eagerly wait to discover the accuracy of their tournament brackets. Sports analysts continue to dive deeper into the men’s and women’s basketball games, hoping to determine who will take home the NCAA championship trophy.

Sixty-four women’s college basketball teams were selected to compete in the tournament, including the Michigan State Spartans and the Ohio State Buckeyes. In the first round, 32 teams, including Michigan State, were eliminated. In addition, 32 teams, including Ohio State, advanced to round two.

National semifinals, also known as the “elite eight”, are over and only the two best teams will continue to the national championship game. So far, Stanford, ranked number two in their region, and South Carolina, ranked number one in their region, ensured their advancement in the tournament and will compete on Friday, March 31. UConn will face Mississippi State to fight for the final remaining spot in the final game of the tournament.

As most basketball fans know, nothing in basketball is predictable. Every teams has flaws and even a reigning champion could choke in the second half.  

Even the lower placed teams like Oregon, ranked number 10, made it to the elite eight to face one of the best teams in the NCAAW, UConn. Florida State, for example, proved they deserved to be in the elite eight, and Stanford had an impressive game against New Mexico State in round one.

Dominant teams, like the South Carolina Gamecocks, prove they are well off in the tournament season without their star player Alaina Coates. Ranked at number two in their region, Oregon State, barely beat number 15 seed, Long Beach State, in round one and could not defeat number three placed Florida State.

Many seem to have UConn, the number one seed in their region, winning it all. The final number one seed left in the tournament, being South Carolina, could pose a threat to this victory.

While this fact is true, UConn is still the best bet since they are going for their fifth title as champions of the NCAA. A starting lineup equipped with promising players like Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier is destined for victory.

Basketball, remember, is one of the most unpredictable sports out there. Having a perfect bracket is extremely unlikely so at this point, all sports enthusiasts can do is speculate.