The Final (Four) countdown

The GIST: The women’s and men’s Final Fours are officially set, but before they tip off this weekend, let’s take a look at a few of the gals’ recent history-making stats.

3: The number of records No. 1–seed Iowa star Caitlin Clark set with her 41-point game in Monday’s Elite Eight win over defending champ No. 3 LSU, making her the new leader in Division I (DI) career three-pointers, career NCAA tournament three-pointers, and career NCAA tourney assists. That Nike commercial just got even longer.

• Speaking of records, No. 1 USC phenom JuJu Watkins also made history on Monday by breaking the DI freshman scoring record set by San Diego State’s Tina Hutchinson in 1984. Watkins’ season ended with a loss to No. 3 UConn, but her best is definitely yet to come.

4: The consecutive Final Fours featuring South Carolina’s top-seeded women. That’s a stark contrast from their Friday opponent, No. 3 NC State, who’ve made two Final Fours…ever.

9: The number of inches short one of the three-point lines was on the Portland region’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight court — an egregious oversight that speaks volumes about how the NCAA undervalues women’s basketball.

15: The number of times a school has sent both their women’s and men’s teams to the Final Four in the same season…although this is the first time two schools, UConn and NC State, have done it. Impressive.

23: How many Final Fours UConn women’s head coach (HC) Geno Auriemma has led the Huskies to in 39 years at the helm. This season could be his greatest achievement, though: He’s booked UConn’s Final Four trip with just seven (!!!) healthy players after losing six to injuries this season. Can’t keep a good Dawg down.

$949: The minimum price (as of 1 p.m. ET yesterday) for a ticket to Friday’s women’s Final Four in Cleveland, OH. Thankfully, these semis are also on ESPN because everyone watches women’s sports.

12.3M: The average viewership of Monday’s 2023 title game rematch between Iowa and LSU, making it the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever. Ted Lasso doesn’t lie.

The GIST: It’s tourney time! Two of the four NCAA regionals (the first step on the road to the national championship) begin today, with the other two hitting the mat tomorrow. These three-day mini-tourneys feature the nation’s top 36 squads — plus 79 standout athletes from non-qualifying teams who’ll compete as individuals — all hoping to flip to the April 18–20 ’ship.

How it works: Each regional meet (hosted in Fayetteville, AR; Berkeley, CA; Gainesville, FL; or Ann Arbor, MI) has nine squads and three rounds. Think of each regional’s first round as a play-in meet between the two lowest-ranked teams, where the winners advance to the eight-team second round.

• The second and third rounds whittle those eight teams down to two. Those survivors from each of the four regions (a total of eight squads) advance to the April 18th national semifinal meet.

• As for individuals, four all-arounders and four event specialists in each event (bars, beam, floor, and vault) will make it past regionals for a shot at some hardware in Fort Worth, TX. In short, it’s a truly mind-bending amount of gymnastics.

The favorites: The nation’s 16 highest-ranked teams (based on national qualifying score) became the bracket’s top 16 seeds, while the remaining 20 are unseeded. The top four are split among the four regionals, and some have a much clearer path to the natty than others…

• The Fayetteville regional is especially stacked, with SEC rivals No. 2 LSU, No. 7 Kentucky, and hosts No. 10 Arkansas going up against No. 15 Minnesota and Team USA star Jade Carey’s Oregon State — who just missed a seeding as the nation’s No. 18 team.

• On the other hand, the Ann Arbor race is all about the second qualifying spot since No. 1 Oklahoma seems impossible to catch. The three-peat hunting Sooners, led by fifth-year Ragan Smith, are somehow more dominant than ever.