Talk about consistency. Not just one, or two—but all of the top-seeded teams from each region advanced to this year’s final four—and what’s even more remarkable is that they’re the exact same four teams from last year’s final four. UConn, South Carolina, UCLA, and Texas have dominated the field in this year’s NCAA Tournament. With so much at stake in the closing stages of the tourney, all four of these squads are looking to take a stab at gold—but with the level of competition ahead, it will be safe to say that the team to outlast them all is the true champion.
Each team has a very impressive resume heading into the Final Four. They have proven why they are the 1-seeds of their respective regions as they have destroyed all of the teams that they have faced thus far. It’s important that we take a critical look at how each of these teams have performed over the course of the season, and why each team is a valid contender for the championship.
UConn is probably at the top of the chain as they are the only unbeaten team to remain with a 31-0 regular season record. The Huskies are looking to conquer their eighth perfect season with their last coming in the 2016-2017 season. Their lowest margin of victory in the tournament was against Notre Dame in an 18-point victory, and their closest contest of the season was against Michigan back in November where they scraped by with a narrow 72-69 victory. The Huskies are in their 25th Final Four, the most appearances out of any school, and they are looking to continue their domination as they are in pursuit of another trophy.
South Carolina has their eyes on glory yet again as they have reached their eighth Final Four in program history. The GameCocks are looking to continue their success as they achieved a perfect season back in the 2023-2024 year. Under coach Dawn Staley, the program has experienced several feats, and in this year’s tournament, the GameCocks’s lowest margin of victory came against both Oklahoma and TCU where they won each game by 26 points. While they have dropped three games this season with two of those losses being against Texas, they have looked unstoppable over the course of the entire tournament, and could be a legitimate threat for winning the title.
Texas has just reached their fifth Final Four in the school’s history. In last year’s final four they fell short to rival South Carolina 74-57. In a vengeful effort, the Longhorns defeated the GameCocks twice this season. They, too, have only lost three games with all three losses coming from SEC rivals. Texas has won each of their tournament games by at least 22 points or more, and they are looking to avenge last year’s final four defeat and book a spot in the championship.
UCLA is the final team that snagged a spot in this year’s Final Four. The Bruins have only dropped one game this season, a loss that resulted from their upcoming opponent Texas. UCLA has also put on a dominating performance in this year’s tournament. They struggled early against a fiery Duke squad who led the game 39-31 at halftime—-but the Bruins stormed their way back to victory after outscoring the Blue Devils 39-19 to claim a 70-58 victory. UCLA will be looking forward to avenging an earlier loss to the Longhorns as they are eyeing a spot in this year’s title game.
UConn and South Carolina will square off in a rematch of last year’s National Championship Game where UConn prevailed by a score of 82-59. Texas and UCLA will face off in the battle of last season’s runner-ups. The games shouldn’t disappoint as there is so much on the line heading into the upcoming weekend. The anticipation is at an all time high, and I’m sure that fans will be looking forward to watching these high quality matchups very soon.
