Sizing up NCAA Albany 1 Regional: These are the teams on USC WBB’s path to Final Four

The South Carolina women’s basketball team on Sunday received its third consecutive No. 1 overall seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks are assigned to the Albany 1 (New York) region and will host first- and second-round games at Colonial Life Arena.

USC (32-0) must win four games to reach a third-straight Final Four and six games to earn the program’s third national title. This year’s semifinals and championship will be held in Cleveland at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

The (March) Madness begins Friday, as coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina host the winner of Wednesday night’s First Four play-in game between Sacred Heart and Presbyterian. The first-round game will tip off at 2 p.m. Friday on ESPN.

Should USC win, it would advance to the second-round and play the winner of No. 8 seed North Carolina and No. 9 seed Michigan State at a time to-be-determined Sunday. Winning that matchup would send the Gamecocks to Albany for the Sweet 16.

Who else occupies South Carolina’s quadrant of the bracket? Here’s a look at the remaining seeds in the Albany 1 region.

No. 2 Notre Dame

Notre Dame is one of five teams in South Carolina’s region it played and defeated during the 2023-24 regular season. (The others are No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 8 UNC, No. 11 Texas A&M and No. 16 Presbyterian.)

The Gamecocks and Fighting Irish faced off in their season opener in Paris. Notre Dame freshman Hannah Hidalgo (who went on to win the ACC Tournament MVP, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards) scored 31 points on South Carolina in that game, while USC walked away with a 29-point victory.

If South Carolina and Notre Dame were to meet again, it would be in the Elite Eight.

No. 3 Oregon State

The Beavers were picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 by the conference’s coaches and ninth by league media in the preseason. They ended fourth in the Pac-12 with a 24-7 record. Six of Oregon State’s losses were to top-10 teams.

No. 4 Indiana

The Hoosiers finished third in the Big Ten with a 24-5 record. Indiana leads the nation in field goal percentage (51%) and 3-point field goal percentage (40.2%).

IU is led by graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes. She averaged a team-high 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game this season, shooting 68% from the floor (which led the Big Ten).

No. 5 Oklahoma

The Big 12 regular-season champion Sooners (22-9) are led by conference Co-Player of the Year Skylar Vann (averaged a team-high 14.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game) and Newcomer of the Year Payton Verhulst (averaged 12.9 points, 3.9 assists and just under one block per game). They played the 11th-toughest schedule in the country.

No. 6 Nebraska

Nebraska (22-11) finished second in the Big Ten Tournament to the Albany 2 Region No. 1 seed Iowa. The Huskers are led by Big Ten Freshman of the Year Natalie Potts (averaging 10.6 PPG), first-team All-Big Ten center Alexis Markowski (averaging a team-high 15.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game) and Big Ten All-Tournament Team member Jaz Shelley (averaging 13.7 points and a team-high 5.6 assists per game).

No. 7 Ole Miss

Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin and Ole Miss made their third-straight NCAA Tournament after three straight 20-win seasons. South Carolina won their regular-season matchup 85-66 last month at Colonial Life Arena. If both teams were to reunite, it would be in the Elite Eight.

No. 8 North Carolina

South Carolina and UNC played a Top-25 matchup in November. It was the Gamecocks’ hardest-fought win and narrowest victory (seven points) of their non-conference schedule. The Tar Heels (19-12) are led by seniors Deja Kelly (16.7 PPG) and Alyssa Ustby (12.4 PPG, 9.3 RPG).

No. 9 Michigan State

First-year head coach Robyn Fralick and the Spartans (22-8) are dancing. They finished fourth in the Big Ten, winning more than 10 league games and 21 games overall for the first time since 2015-16.

No. 10 Marquette

The Golden Eagles (23-8) finished No. 40 in the NCAA NET rankings and started the season 12-0. They finished tied for third in the Big East with St. John’s and Villanova.

No. 11 Texas A&M

South Carolina and Texas A&M (19-12) have played twice already this season — once in College Station (with USC winning 99-64), and once in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals (which USC won 79-68 but committed a season-high 24 turnovers).

No. 12 FGCU

Florida Gulf Coast University (29-4) won its seventh consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament title Saturday, defeating No. 3 Central Arkansas 76-47. This is the Eagles’ sixth time as a 12-seed. Last year, FGCU upset No. 5 seed Washington State to become the winningest 12-seed in NCAA Tournament history.

No. 13 Fairfield

Fairfield, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion, has the second-highest winning percentage in the nation behind undefeated South Carolina. The Stags went 31-1 this season, winning 29 games in a row.

No. 14 Eastern Washington

Eastern Washington is in its second-ever NCAA Tournament, previously doing so in 1987. This year, the Eagles (29-5) won the Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles.

No. 15 Kent State

This year marks Kent State’s first NCAA Tournament since 2002. The Mid-American Conference Tournament champion Golden Flashes (21-10) are led by redshirt senior Katie Shumate (15 PPG).

No. 16 Sacred Heart/Presbyterian

Sacred Heart won its second-straight Northeast Conference championship Sunday, beating Le Moyne 69-48. Presbyterian won the Big South championship as a fifth seed to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Hose played at Colonial Life Arena in December, falling 99-29 to the Gamecocks.

NCAA Tournament Albany 1 Region Schedule

Wednesday, March 20 — First Four

(16) Sacred Heart vs. (16) Presbyterian, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)

Friday, March 22 — First round

(8) North Carolina vs. (9) Michigan State | 11:30 a.m. (ESPN2)

(1) South Carolina vs. Sacred Heart/Presbyterian | 2 p.m. (ESPN)

(3) Oregon State vs. (14) Eastern Washington | 8 p.m. (ESPNU)

(6) Nebraska vs. (11) Texas A&M | 10:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Saturday, March 23 — First round

(4) Indiana vs. (13) Fairfield | 1:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

(2) Notre Dame vs. (15) Kent State | 2:15 p.m. (ESPN)

(5) Oklahoma vs. (12) FGCU | 4 p.m. | (ESPNews)

(7) Ole Miss vs. (10) Marquette | 4:45 p.m. (ESPNU)