The bracket is ready. The First 4 is underway. And on Friday, the primary spherical of the 2026 Ladies’s NCAA Match formally suggestions off.
With 16 video games on Friday and one other 16 on Saturday, it may be exhausting to determine the place to place your consideration. Listed below are eight finest first-round video games you do not need to miss.
8. No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 12 James Madison
Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU
This match-up is notable primarily for narrative causes. Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks performed for James Madison after which coached there from 1998 to 2016, first as a males’s assistant, however most notably as the pinnacle coach of the ladies’s crew beginning in 2003. Brooks led the Dukes to 4 CAA regular-season championships, 5 convention event championships and 5 NCAA Match appearances and is within the James Madison Athletics Corridor of Fame.
That is the Dukes’ finest season since Brooks left for Virginia Tech in 2016, however Kentucky is a tricky draw for positive. Take note of the battle within the publish — JMU ranks within the high 15 nationally in each rebounds and rebounding margin, thanks in large half to Ashanti Barnes. However the Wildcats have 6-foot-5 middle Clara Strack, who averages 17.1 factors and 10 rebounds a sport.
7. No. 8 Oklahoma State vs. No. 9 Princeton
Saturday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
You by no means know fairly what to anticipate from this Oklahoma State crew. Living proof: In late February, the Cowgirls fell 72-40 to West Virginia after which beat Iowa State 88-77. The Cowgirls impressively completed fourth within the aggressive Large 12 and are looking for their first NCAA Match win within the Jacie Hoyt period.
Princeton went 26-3 this season and gained the Ivy League championship to make its fifth straight NCAA Match look. The Tigers have not gained a sport within the Large Dance since upsetting NC State in 2023, however this 12 months’s squad is ranked No. 23 within the nation and appears primed to get a win for the mid-majors.
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6. No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Fairfield
Saturday, 2 p.m., ESPN
I will be sincere: this sport may simply be a blowout. Notre Dame completed the season robust and has one of the crucial electrical gamers within the nation, Hannah Hidalgo. However I am together with it as a result of the Irish have additionally been inconsistent throughout this rebuilding 12 months and Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis has turned the Stags right into a MAAC powerhouse in her 4 seasons on the helm.
The Stags are on an 11-game profitable streak heading into their third straight NCAA Match, and a No. 11 seed is their highest since 1988. Plus, Fairfield leads the nation in 3-pointers made with 11.4 per sport. It is uncertain the Stags will be capable to cease Hidalgo, but when they get scorching from past the arc, they only would possibly be capable to sustain along with her.
5. No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 11 Nebraska
Friday, 2 p.m., ESPN
Talking of being due, in 2025, No. 11 seeds went 0-4 within the first spherical for the primary time since 2017. I would not count on that to occur once more this 12 months. One No. 11 seed to be careful for is Nebraska, which gained its First 4 sport 75-56 in opposition to Richmond on Wednesday night time. The Huskers shook off their nerves early and got here out after halftime on fireplace, happening a 17-0 run and profitable the third quarter 27-6. Britt Prince was significantly spectacular, with 22 factors, 5 assists and three boards.
Not one of the Huskers performed greater than half-hour on Wednesday, so they need to be a lot recent when going through Baylor on Friday. The Bears misplaced 4 of their final seven video games, and although all of these losses got here to NCAA Match groups, it is regarding how a lot they’ve struggled offensively down the stretch, scoring simply 53 factors of their two most up-to-date video games.
On paper, the sensational Taliah Scott ought to be capable to lead the Bears to the second spherical. However Nebraska has already proved that it got here to Durham to present its all.
4. No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Gonzaga
Saturday, 3:30 pm ET, ESPN2
It is a fairly lopsided sport seed-wise, however that is as a result of Gonzaga has one of many predominant X-factors that helps groups get upsets in March: 3-point capturing. Gonzaga has the second-best 3-point proportion within the nation behind UConn, led by Allie Turner, who shoots 46.7% from outdoors.
Ole Miss can beat one of the best groups within the sport — it upset No. 2 seed Vanderbilt twice this season and solely misplaced to No. 1 seed Texas by three factors. However the Rebels are inconsistent — they misplaced to 3 groups that did not make the NCAA Match in Kansas State, Florida and Texas A&M.
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Final 12 months, No. 12 seeds went 0-4 for the second straight season after going 2-2 in 2022 and 2023, so one would possibly say the No. 12s are due for a win. If nothing else, it is price it to tune in and watch Ole Miss’s Cotie McMahon compete on the most important stage.
3. No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 9 Syracuse
Saturday, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2
These groups have had very totally different journeys this season. Iowa State opened the season ranked No. 14 and spent the primary 10 weeks ranked within the AP high 25 earlier than happening a five-game dropping streak whereas grappling with an damage to ahead Addy Brown. Syracuse, in the meantime, bounced again from a 12-18 season final 12 months to return to the Large Dance thanks largely to ACC Freshman of the 12 months Uche Izoje, a 21-year-old middle from Nigeria.
Izoje could have her fingers full on Saturday with Audi Crooks, the junior middle who’s second within the nation in scoring at 25.5 factors per sport. Crooks scored 40 factors within the NCAA Match as a freshman, and with one other large sport may be part of Caitlin Clark and Candace Wiggins as the one gamers with a number of 40-point video games within the NCAA Match.
2. No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 USC
Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
This has been an anticipated down 12 months for USC with famous person JuJu Watkins sidelined with an ACL tear, however the Trojans are nonetheless a event crew due to freshman phenom Jazzy Davidson, who’s main the crew in factors (17.6), rebounds (5.7), assists (4.2), steals (2.0) and blocks (2.0) per sport.
Clemson, in the meantime, is without doubt one of the finest tales in school basketball this 12 months. With a high 10 recruiting class becoming a member of this system this summer season, coach Shawn Poppie has the Tigers again within the NCAA event for the primary time since 2019 and the second time since 2002. Clemson notched spectacular wins over 4 of the opposite eight ACC groups that certified for the NCAA Match, together with convention champions Duke.
Whereas the long run is brilliant for each applications, each need to show that they belong now.
1. No. 7 NC State vs. No. 10 Tennessee
Friday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
When the Wolfpack and Girl Vols confronted off within the very first sport of the season on the Ro Greensboro Invitational, each groups have been ranked within the high 10 and had goals of convention championships and deep NCAA Match runs. Now, one in every of them might be going dwelling winless in March.
NC State gained that November sport 80-77, however that will be its solely win over a ranked crew all season. Regardless of standout seasons from Zoe Brooks and Khamil Pierre, each All-ACC first crew choices, this younger Wolfpack squad spent the season marred by a scarcity of chemistry and management.
Tennessee (16-13) is the one crew to seem in each NCAA Match, but it surely enters this version on a seven-game dropping streak, the longest by the Girl Vols within the NCAA Match period. With simply 16 wins, they tie the fewest wins by any at-large crew up to now 40 years, excluding the shortened 2020-21 season. And as unhealthy as all of that sounds, Tennessee’s final month has felt even worse, leaving many questioning about the way forward for coach Kim Caldwell.
I do know, I do know, I am doing a extremely good job promoting this one! However nonetheless, this one tops the must-watch record as a result of that Nov. 4 sport was a thriller, and I count on this one to be, too. Brooks vs. Tennessee’s press is well worth the value of admission alone, and due to Tennessee’s current troubles and storied legacy within the spot, the stakes really feel extremely excessive. And Tennessee nonetheless has tons of expertise — Talaysia Cooper and Janiah Barker can go toe-to-toe with one of the best within the nation.
