You just watched the WNBA All-Star Game and are ready for the season's second half to begin Tuesday. But the college season isn't that far away: Saturday marked 100 days until the race for the 2027 national championship in women's basketball begins.
The women's and men's NCAA tournaments each will expand to 76 teams this season. The women will continue to play the tournament's opening roads at home sites, then go on to two regionals.
This season, those are in Philadelphia and Las Vegas. Then the Final Four will be in Columbus, Ohio.
Defending national champion UCLA sent its top six players from last season to the WNBA, while runner-up UConn lost Azzi Fudd , the No. 1 pick in the draft.
South Carolina and Texas, last season's other Final Four teams, also had big personnel losses, but both are still expected to battle for the SEC title and are hoping to end their seasons in Columbus. ESPN's Kendra Andrews, Kareem Copeland and Michael Voepel look ahead to 100 things about the women's college season: the top storylines, contending teams, star players, most intriguing nonconference matchups, best freshmen and more -- plus make some "wild" predictions, some or none of which might come true.
Jump to: Top storylines | Wild predictions Contenders | Teams that could make a jump Best nonconference matchups Freshmen | Transfers | Breakouts All-America candidates | Coaches to watch 10 storylines that could shape the season Will South Carolina be the favorite for the NCAA title? It looks that way, with an especially strong inside game that includes Joyce Edwards (19.2 PPG as a sophomore) and 6-foot-7 Alicia Tournebize (who played 20 games last season after joining the Gamecocks in January) as well as Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins, who are expected back after missing last season with knee injuries.
South Carolina also added top post recruit Oliviyah Edwards. The Gamecocks' perimeter also should be strong, although junior guard Maddy McDaniel recently announced she is stepping away from basketball for an indeterminate time to focus on her mental health.
But with Tessa Johnson returning for her senior season and junior Jordan Lee transferring in from Texas, the Gamecocks have a lot of guard firepower even after losing Raven Johnson and Ta'Niya Latson to the WNBA. Will USC's JuJu Watkins return at national player of the year level?
Watkins last played in a college game on March 24, 2025, when she suffered a knee injury in the NCAA tournament's second round. The consensus national player of the year that season, she averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
USC went 18-14 last season without her, falling to South Carolina in the NCAA second round. Considering the success of many athletes returning from ACL surgery, and listening to the positive comments from Watkins and coach Lindsay Gottlieb from USC's summer practice, there's reason to believe the dynamic guard will pick up where she left off.
And whenever USC's season ends, another interesting question will emerge: Will Watkins return for her final season of college eligibility or enter the 2027 WNBA draft? Can Sarah Strong lead UConn to a 13th championship?
Strong was pivotal when UConn won the title in 2025 and led the Huskies to the Final Four last April, where they lost their only game of the season in the semifinals to South Carolina. Strong said in mid-June that she has been dealing with Achilles soreness/pain that has bothered her since the previous summer.
We'll see if Strong is back to 100% or close to it when the season starts. With Azzi Fudd having moved on to the WNBA as the No.
1 pick, Strong has even more on her shoulders. How does reigning champion UCLA reload?
No school has repeated as the women's college basketball NCAA champion since UConn won four in a row behind Breanna Stewart from 2013 to 2016 -- and UCLA lost its top six scorers from the 2026 title team, all of whom were drafted into the WNBA. The Bruins went into the transfer portal for some key additions, anticipate growth from sophomore forward Sienna Betts , and could get a strong senior season from forward Timea Gardiner .
A third consecutive Final Four might be too much to expect, but the Bruins will be a competitive team. Is Texas in the mix again for the NCAA title?
The Longhorns were the only team to beat UCLA last season, in late November. The Bruins avenged that loss at the Final Four.
Texas now has had back-to-back national semifinal appearances, but the Longhorns want more. They've lost