Women's NCAA Tournament 2013: 5 Teams Poised to Make Final Four Run

As March begins, so does the quest for the 2013 Women's College Basketball championship.This is the time of year when true contenders gear up to bring an elusive national championship back to campus.

With no undefeated teams in the field this season, parity abounds atop the bracket. Every team should be on upset alert and focus will be paramount for team's wanting to cut down the nets in New Orleans.

To be one of the final four teams standing by the end of the tournament will take a special squad. These five teams have shown that they have what it takes to play their way through the madness in March (and into April).

Baylor Bears

Any conversation about tournament favorites must begin with the Baylor Bears.

They aren't perfect, they were handed a defeat by the Stanford Cardinal in November, but they're as close as it gets. Brittany Griner is the best player in the nation and the Bears are winners of 25 straight games.

Griner leads the way with 22 ppg, 8.9 rpg and almost four blocks per game. Very few teams have the ability to even begin to contain her on the block and that will make the Bears nearly upset proof.

Aside from Griner's inside dominance, the Bears have a point guard in Odyssey Sims who is able to distribute the ball on offense and stick with the opposing team's best ball handler on the defensive side of the floor.

Griner and Sims are unlikely to be denied a trip to New Orleans.

Stanford Cardinal

The Cardinals are currently ranked No. 4 in the country, but they're the only team that can say they've beaten the No. 1 ranked Bears.

When the Cardinals are on, they can play with anyone. The double-digit losses to Connecticut and California are a concern, but they've won 15-straight since their loss on Jan. 13.

Forward Chiney Ogwumike is one of the best player's in the nation and can match Griner score-for-score on the offensive side of the floor.Throw in Joslyn Tinkle's production and the Cardinals have one of the best forward tandems in the country.

Whether or not Stanford is able to lock up a top seed, it must be considered a favorite to go deep into the tournament.

Connecticut Huskies

The Baylor Bears are the top-ranked team in the country, but it's hard to argue any team has been more dominant than Connecticut.

The Huskies lead the nation in scoring margin, defeating opponents by an incredible 35 points per game.

Geno Auriemma's squad plays suffocating defense and overwhelms teams with a fast-paced scoring attack that leads the nation in scoring at 82 points per game. The Huskies are one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the nation and can really bury a team before the game really gets started.

Losses to Baylor and Notre Dame are obviously a concern, but both of those losses were relatively close. If they get hot from behind the arc, they could easily reverse their fortunes in rematches.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

If it takes great guard play to advance in the tournament, then the Irish have to be an odds-on favorite.

The combination of Skylar Diggins and Kayla McBride will be a tough duo for any team to stop and the Irish will look to ride their scoring to New Orleans. As evidenced, by their recent comeback win over Syracuse, this is a tough team that can get back in any game with Diggins and McBride's ability to score.

The Irish did lose to Baylor early in the season, but they've passed every other test. They are 9-1 in 10 games against Top-25 teams.

Considering the 26-1 Irish aren't likely to see the Bears before the final four, this is a team that should make a serious run at a national title.

Dayton Flyers

Looking for this year's sleeping giant to watch come tournament time?

Look no further than the Dayton Flyers.

The Atlantic-10 leaders are 25-1 and holds an undefeated record in conference play. The Flyers don't have the strenuous schedule that the teams ranked ahead of them in the polls, but they've done a great job of beating who is put in front of them.

The Flyers have twice played ranked teams in DePaul and Vanderbilt and they came out victorious both times. They don't have one star player that they will rely on heavily, but four of the five starters average 10 points or more.That's the kind of balance that will challenge any team's depth.

Dayton isn't receiving too much hype right now, but it plays sound basketball and is the kind of team that will be difficult to upend in March.