NCAA Women's Basketball Bracket 2014: Highlighting Tourney's Toughest Teams

The 2014 women’s NCAA tournament begins on Saturday, with 64 teams taking to the court over the first two days to begin a journey toward crowning a national champion.

While each program involved has hopes of winning it all, only a few schools truly have what it takes to navigate through their region, cruise into the Final Four and hoist the trophy at the end of it all.

Let’s take a look at the tough teams that will be nearly impossible to knock off course during March Madness.

*Complete women's bracket can be found here, courtesy of ESPN. 

UConn Huskies

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The Huskies are the team to beat in the Big Dance, as they come into the event having earned the No. 1 overall seed following a 34-0 season.

Connecticut has plenty of championship experience too, having won it all in 2013 and made the Final Four every single year since 2008. This program is clearly the class of women’s college basketball and will not go down easily.

Breanna Stewart is a big reason why the Huskies are favored to repeat as champs this spring, as the superstar sophomore has been downright unstoppable.

The forward averaged 19.7 points while shooting 49.8 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from beyond the arc. She also contributed an average of 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.8 blocks per contest.

For her efforts, Stewart earned the espnW Player of the Year honor and spoke about how she could still improve when accepting it, as per espnW’s Michelle Smith: "There are so many ways I can improve. "That means ... just not getting complacent, and wanting to be the best player I can be."

While Stewart is best known for her talents on the offensive end, she is emerging as one of the nation’s top defenders due to her incredible seven-foot wingspan. It has allowed her to block a ton of shots and also avoid foul trouble, as the Syracuse native has yet to foul out of a game during her time with the Huskies.

As if the Huskies needed any more support, they received some in the form of a Final Four nod from President Barack Obama, as per ESPN Women’s Hoops:

With the president behind them and Stewart playing out of her mind, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Huskies lose up until the Final Four, if they fall at all.

Notre Dame

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The Fighting Irish are the biggest threat to UConn’s dominance this year, as they also turned in an undefeated season by going 32-0 and winning its first ever ACC championship in 2013-14.

This will mark the 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament for the prestigious program, although Notre Dame has only won one title during that span—all the way back in 2001.

Head coach Muffet McGraw earned espnW’s Coach of the Year honors for the outstanding effort her players put forth this past season. It wasn’t an easy journey, as the Irish knocked off 11 ranked opponents during their campaign, including six found inside the top 10.

That is the kind of battle-tested opponent that Connecticut has to fear this time of year, especially since the Irish rank in the top 10 in terms of field-goal percentage, scoring offense, three-point percentage and assists.

This team can move the ball with ease and bomb away from beyond the arc, which is exactly what it will need to do in order to pull the upset in the championship game—assuming it gets there.

There isn’t one star that the opposition can focus on and effectively lock down the Irish offense. The team employs Jewell Loyd, Kayla McBride, Natalie Achonwa and Michaela Mabrey. Each is capable of lighting it up at any time and helps makes this one of the most balanced attacks in the tournament.

Don’t forget the Lady Irish defense, which limits opponents to just 38 percent shooting and forces more than 18 turnovers per game. That isn’t something to scoff at, and this appears to be one of the only units capable of limiting the Huskies in the tournament.

It would certainly not be a shock if the Irish end up battling UConn for the championship, which would make for the marquee game of the season with all the marbles on the line.