On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Missy Heidrick officially welcomes listeners to the 2024 March Madness tournament. Missy analyzes the schedule, identifies which games and players to watch, and makes her own bold predictions on who might end up in Cleveland.
Missy starts out by explaining the selection process to qualify and get ranked for the tournament. “We all know there is a selection committee,” she starts, “and it’s a year-long evaluation of teams from start to finish.” She explains the NET – the NCAA Evaluation Tool – that enables the committee to do its selection, as well as a “host of other criteria.” Altogether, the selection process is a very careful and detailed one, explains Missy, and takes so many elements of a team into consideration, beyond just wins and losses.
After explaining the NET and the process it enables, Missy analyzes the top seeds, starting with none other than South Carolina. The number one team in the nation, South Carolina, took first place in the Albany 1 division, followed by Notre Dame, who “got themselves an ACC crown” despite numerous setbacks. The other number top teams in the tournament include Caitlin Clark’s Iowa and UCLA in the Albany 2 region, USC and Ohio State in the Portland 3, and Texas and Stanford in the Portland 4.
Missy continues onto address some of the buzzy topics people are focusing on in the aftermath of selection Sunday. “You will not see Miami out of the ACC,” Missy informs listeners, and the tournament will lack Mississippi State as well. This is partially due to a bid steal, as two teams from the Ivy League, Princeton and Columbia, will make their way to the tournament this year. Gonzaga’s and Portland’s bids were certainly not guaranteed earlier this year either, so “hats off to them for a fantastic performance,” says Missy. They really “put themselves in the NCAA tournament.”
Missy finishes out the episode with more analysis and predictions, and highlights what she thinks will be the most interesting and surprising moments to watch throughout the tournament. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!