NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2026 Top Storylines, Updated Bracket Picks

All of the top powers in women's college basketball advanced to the second weekend of the 2026 NCAA women's basketball tournament.

The top-seeded UConn Huskies are still the favorite to cut down the nets in Phoenix.

UConn might not face much of a challenge during the second weekend of tournament action given how well it played on home court in the first two rounds.

The South Carolina Gamecocks, UCLA Bruins and Texas Longhorns could fill out a Final Four of all No. 1 seeds.

Before we reach that point, there are a handful of fascinating Sweet 16 games on tap on Friday and Saturday.

Fort Worth 1

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No. 1 UConn vs. No. 4 North Carolina

No. 2 Vanderbilt vs. No. 6 Notre Dame

UConn's quest to repeat as national champion continues in Fort Worth on Friday.

Azzi Fudd and Co. are expected to cruise past North Carolina in the Sweet 16. The tougher matchup lies ahead in the Elite Eight against either Notre Dame or Vanderbilt.

Notre Dame has one of the best individual players left in the tournament in Hannah Hidalgo, who had 49 points, 22 rebounds, 16 steals and eight assists in the first two rounds.

Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes is coming off 55 points on the opening weekend of the Big Dance.

The Blakes-versus-Hidalgo matchup in the Sweet 16 will be an absolute battle.

The winner of what should be a tight battle on Friday then has to step up to play UConn on Sunday.

That's where the Huskies' string of blowouts could really help them since the Notre Dame-Vandy winner could be worn out from Friday.

Picks

UConn over North Carolina

Vanderbilt over Notre Dame

Sacramento 2

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No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 4 Minnesota

No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Duke

All signs are pointing to a UCLA-LSU battle in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

UCLA beat Minnesota by 18 points in Big Ten play on January 14, so it's easy to see Lauren Betts and Co. winning by double figures again.

The Bruins should have a home crowd behind them in Sacramento. Half of Minnesota's eight losses have come away from home.

LSU scored 217 points in its first two NCAA tournament games. The Tigers likely won't hit the century mark against Duke, but their offense will pose a huge threat to the Blue Devils defense.

Duke needs to be near perfect on defense to slow down Flau'jae Johnson and LSU offense.

A win by Kim Mulkey's side means we'll get LSU-versus-UCLA, which is a must-see TV regional final.

Picks

UCLA over Minnesota

LSU over Duke

Fort Worth 3

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No. 1 Texas vs. No. 5 Kentucky

No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Louisville

Madison Booker was one of the many stars that shined bright over the first weekend of games.

Booker put up a 40-point performance in the second-round win over Oregon. She had 54 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists in Austin last weekend.

One of Bookers' two single-digit point outings of the season came against Kentucky on February 29. Texas still won that game by 11 points.

Kentucky has the blueprint to slow down Booker, but Texas' staff will also make the necessary adjustments to get its star more involved in the scoring column.

The other Sweet 16 game in the Fort Worth 3 bracket pits Michigan against Louisville in a battle of teams that combined to win 56 games.

Louisville is fascinating because it doesn't have a player who averages more than 11 points per game. Michigan has three players who average over 12.5 points per game, led by Olivia Olson's 19.2.

The Cardinals only allow 60.7 points per game, so if they can slow down Michigan, they will have a shot at advancing.

But Michigan's defense is equally impressive with 62.5 points allowed per game. The Wolverines have the deeper and more rounded scoring attack that could make the difference on Saturday.

Picks:

Texas over Kentucky

Michigan over Louisville

Sacramento 4

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No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Oklahoma

No. 3 TCU vs. No. 10 Virginia

Virginia is the lone double-digit seed left in the NCAA tournament.

The Cavaliers won three games so far in the Big Dance, including a pair of overtime thrillers in Iowa.

Kymora Johnson scored 28 points in the first and second rounds, but she faces a much tougher task to score against TCU, who has held opponents to 33.4 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from three-point range.

The Horned Frogs allowed 99 points across the first two rounds. That included a trip to overtime against Washington in the second round.

TCU feels like the most likely Elite Eight opponent for South Carolina, who is heavily favored to beat Oklahoma.

The Gamecocks lost in overtime to Oklahoma in the regular season, but that was a rare big win for the Sooners, who went 2-7 against Top 25 foes.

Picks:

South Carolina over Oklahoma

TCU over Virginia