The catch-up, pt. 2: Collegiate chaos
The catch-up, pt. 2: Collegiate chaos
The latest in college basketball, gymnastics, and softball.
Hi. At the risk of sounding like a corporate shrill, I genuinely do hope this email finds you well. I have had a WEEK. But I’m here, I’m grateful, and I’m excited about this newsletter.
Today, we’re going to continue our #CatchUp series with a look at everything that’s going on in women’s college sports. Okay, not *everything.* But we’re going to get (re)oriented with the basics of the three major women’s college sports happening this semester: Basketball, softball, and gymnastics.
(Going forward, we’ll catch up with these sports (and others) in a (much shorter) weekly Monday #checkin, and then I’ll return to publishing one or two bigger-picture newsletters later each week that tackle the booming world of women’s sports through a uniquely Power Plays lens. Be sure you’ve signed up so you don’t miss anything.)
Okay, friends. Cutting this intro short before I start accidentally trauma dumping. Let’s do this!!!!
College basketball
Today is February 28, which means March Madness is right around the corner. Conference play will be wrapping up this week, (most) conference tournaments will take place March 6-10 (I’ll be at the ACC tournament!!!), and the NCAA tournament will begin in earnest on March 20, culminating in the Final Four in Cleveland on April 5 and 7. It’s going to be an absolutely wild six weeks. And the best part? We have absolutely no clue what’s going to happen.
Here’s what the Top 25 looks like this week:
The only thing we know for certain is that South Carolina is the No. 1 team in the country. They’re undefeated. They lost about 156 players to the WNBA last year, including generational talent Aaliyah Boston, and somehow came back this season looking even better. Last season, South Carolina was scoring 80.3 points per game; this season they’ve raised that to 87 points per game.
One of the most impressive streaks in sports right now? South Carolina’s 45 straight regular-season SEC wins.
The year’s squad just has a ridiculous amount of depth. Senior center Kamilla Cardoso is leading the way, with 14.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, but up and down the roster you have players who make an impact, from Oregon transfer Te-Hina Paopao, who is averaging 11.5 points per game and shooting 48.9% from three, to Bree Hall, Ashlyn Watkins, Chloe Kitts, Raven Johnson, and stand-out freshman Milaysia Fulwiley who is notching 11.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.
This was expected to be a bit of a transitional year for Staley’s team. Instead, they’ve been the only constant in the women’s game over the past four months. They have the regular-season SEC title wrapped up with a week to spare, and will be heavy favorites headed into the SEC (and NCAA) tournament. LSU, which is ranked No. 9, is the only other SEC school in the Top 25 right now.
But after South Carolina? That’s where the chaos comes in. Every single team in the Top 25 has shown the ability to be both vulnerable and valiant. Take this past week: On Thursday night, No. 4 Iowa was blown out by No. 14 Indiana, 86-69; unranked Duke upset then-No. 17 Syracuse 58-45; and unranked North Carolina upset then-No. 6 NC State 80-70. On Friday, Arizona upset then-No. 3 Stanford (who, it must be noted, was playing without Cameron Brink due to a non-covid illness) 68-61. On Sunday, Washington upset then-No. 9 Oregon State; Kansas upset then-No. 10 Kansas State 58-55; and Duke upset then-No. 6 NC State 69-58. Anything can happen on a day-in, day-out basis, which is going to make March an absolute blast.
Here’s some more information to get you prepared for March:
Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA D1 women’s scoring record on February 15. After scoring 24 points in both of her games last week, she’s up to 3,617 points. According to Michael Voepel at ESPN, she’s 33 points away from Lynette Woodard’s women’s major-college record, and 51 points away from passing Pete Maravich for the men’s NCAA scoring record. Both of those landmarks are within reach this week. The biggest question for Iowa is whether the rest of the roster can step up when it matters the most to help Clark have one more deep run in the tournament.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Ohio State (15-1 conference record) has captured a share of the regular-season championship and the top seed in the upcoming sold-out (!!!) Big Ten tournament. Behind the excellence of Jacy Sheldon, Cotie McMahon, and Celeste Taylor, Ohio State has won 14 straight games — in fact, they haven’t lost since the calendar turned to 2024. Iowa and Indiana, both 13-3 in the conference, still have a chance to grab a share of the title, but they’d need to win out and get some help from the Buckeyes, who just have to win one more game to capture it outright. Definitely star that Sunday game between Iowa and Ohio State in Iowa City; it’s going to be electric.
I always enjoy reading Sabrina Merchant’s weekly power rankings and takeaways over at The Athletic. Last week, she had some particularly good insight into LSU’s trouble at point guard right now, and why both Haley Van Lith and Last-Tear Poa are incomplete puzzle pieces at the position. This week, she does a great job breaking down Ohio State’s quiet dominance and UCLA’s winning adjustments against Utah.
Okay, let’s move to the Pac-12, which is having *quite* the series finale. Fittingly, Stanford has already captured a share of the regular-season title, and just has to win one of its final two games against Oregon and Oregon State to capture the championship outright. Oregon State, USC, and UCLA are all tied for second place, two games back from the Cardinal.
But as intriguing as the top of the Pac-12 is, I actually want to take a beat to talk about Arizona, because after their upset over Stanford on Friday night, they deserves some love. Yes, Brink was out for Stanford. But Arizona was missing its leading scorer too, with Kailyn Gilbert back home in Tucson in concussion protocol. In all, Arizona only had seven active players. And history was not on their side. One month ago, the Wildcats lost to the Cardinal by 32 points. Plus, Stanford had beaten Arizona in 15 of the last 16 meetings, and Arizona hadn’t won at Stanford since 2001.
It was an ugly game. Arizona trailed 45-37 entering the fourth quarter. But the Wildcats played tight defense and found an offensive spark late, thanks primarily to Jada Williams, who scored 14 of her 23 points in the final four minutes of the game to help them capture the monumental win, 68-61. Two days later, they followed it up by soundly beating Cal, 87-68. Arizona was completely out of the NCAA tournament conversation two weeks ago, but they’ve won five of seven games in February, and have an outside shot to nab one of the final at-large bids if they can put together a few more wins down the stretch. (Right now, Charlie Creme has them as one of his first four out; Mark Schindler at the Athletic has them as a No. 10 seed.) The lesson? Never count out an Adia Barnes squad.
Before we move away from the Pac-12 completely, let’s give a quick shout-out to JuJu Watkins. On Sunday, she passed Pam McGee to become the leading freshman scorer in USC history. On Friday, she had 42 points, passing Cheryl Miller with the most 30-point games in one season in USC history. The 18-year-old has wracked up records this year at an absurd rate; I highly recommend reading this Slam Magazine profile of her, and make sure to catch a USC game in March. She is transcendent.
Okay, let’s move over to the ACC, where Virginia Tech is in the driver’s seat and N.C. State is in a tailspin. The Hokies have won 10 straight games and have already captured a share of the regular-season ACC title. Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley have this group looking like it could make a return visit to the Final Four. Meanwhile, N.C. State, who looked like the head of the conference class for most of this season, has lost three of its last six, including back-to-back losses to UNC and Duke over the weekend. At the beginning of February they were ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25. Now they’re down to No. 12. Brutal.
The biggest surprise this ACC season? Syracuse, which was picked ninth in the preseason poll, currently sits at second and is the only team with an outside chance to split the regular-season title with Virginia Tech headed into the final week. They’re led by graduate senior Dyaisha Fair, who has made her fifth year of eligibility count by climbing to No. 5 on the list of all-time scorers in NCAA women’s basketball history, surpassing Brittney Griner.
Finally, we’ve got the Big 12, where Oklahoma goes into the final week with a one-game lead over Texas and two-game lead over Kansas State. The biggest story in the conference is Texas, and specifically Longhorn freshman Madison Booker. When Rori Harman tore her ACL in December, most thought that the days of Texas being a national title contender this season were over. But Booker took that assumption personally and has transformed into a star. Something super special is brewing in Austin.
Buckle up for the biggest games of the week:
Michigan vs. No. 2 Ohio State (Wednesday, February 28; 7:00pmET; Peacock)
No. 3 Texas vs. No. 20 Oklahoma (Wednesday, February 28; 7:00pmET; ESPN+)
No. 6 Iowa vs. Minnesota (Wednesday, February 28; 9:00pmET; Peacock)
No. 5 Virginia Tech vs. No. 17 Notre Dame (Thursday, February 29; 7:00pmET; ESPN)
No. 19 Syracuse vs. No. 12 NC State (Thursday, February 29; 7:00pmET; ACCNX)
No. 1 South Carolina vs. Arkansas (Thursday, February 29; 9:00pmET; SECN)
Florida State vs. No. 22 Louisville (Thursday, February 29; 9:00pmET; SECN)
No. 9 LSU vs. Georgia (Thursday, February 29; 9:00pmET; ESPN2)
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 11 Oregon State (Thursday, February 29; 10:00pmET; ESPN2)
No. 8 UCLA vs. Arizona (Saturday, March 2; 8:00pmET; PAC12)
Tennessee vs. No. 1 South Carolina (Sunday, March 3; 12:00pmET; ESPN)
Oklahoma State vs. No. 21 Baylor (Sunday, March 3; 12:00pmET; ESPN2)
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Iowa (Sunday, March 3; 1:00pmET; FOX)
No. 22 Louisville vs. No. 17 Notre Dame (Sunday, March 3; 2:00pmET; ESPN)
Maryland vs. No. 14 Indiana (Sunday, March 3; 3:00pmET; Peacock)
Duke at North Carolina (Sunday, March 3; 3:30pmET; ESPN2)
LMAOOOO THERE ARE SO MANY THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN
College softball
College softball had its opening day of play on February 8, and things will be going non-stop until the Women’s College World Series in June.
Here’s what this week’s ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 looks like:
As you can see, Oklahoma is still atop the rankings. Because some things never change.
The Sooners have extended their historic winning streak to 67 games in a row after opening this season 14-0. The second-longest streak in NCAA Softball history is Arizona’s 47 games from 1996-97. And the rest of the top-five streaks? All from Oklahoma, who won 41 in a row in 2019, and 40 in row both in 2021-22 and 2020-21. That’s just silly.
Here are a few other nuggets:
Last year’s WCWS Most Outstanding Player Jordy Bahl shocked everyone when, just days after Oklahoma won its third-straight national championship, she announced that she was transferring to Nebraska to play softball back in her home state. Unfortunately, in Nebraska’s opener, she tore her ACL, and now will be out for the entire season. Just devastating news all around.
Besides Oklahoma, there are two other undefeated teams in the Top 25: No. 3 LSU (13-0), No. 11 Alabama (16-0),
There are 12 (twelve!!!) SEC teams in the Top 25. Tennessee was predicted to win the conference and started the year ranked No. 2 in the country, but has dropped to No. 8 in the standings after losses to Stanford and Texas at Clearwater, where they only scored one run combined in both games, and losses to UCLA and Fullerton at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. For now, Georgia is leading the way for the conference at No. 3, with LSU close behind at No. 5. SEC play is going to be a blast.
Florida State — runners up to Oklahoma in two of the last three national championships — was picked to win the ACC in the preseason, but they’ve dropped from No. 5 to No. 12 in the Top 25 after losing 14-10 to UCLA and 20-10 to Georgia in Clearwater earlier this month. Right now, Duke (13-1) is the highest-ranked ACC team at No. 6, followed by Clemson (11-2) at No. 9.
In the Pac-12’s final season (STILL NOT OKAY WITH THIS), No. 10 Stanford (10-4) was picked to win the conference for the first time in the preseason poll. But they’ve struggled a bit, with two losses to then-No. 25 Kentucky and Top-10 losses to Florida and Texas. Washington (12-2), No. 4, is the highest-ranked team in the Pac-12 right now. No. 19 UCLA (7-5) has also struggled out of the gate.
The season began with the inaugural HBCU invitational featuring Howard, Prairie View A&M, Alabama A&M, Grambling State, Alabama State, Fort Valley State, Jackson State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, and Alcorn State. Howard won the event with a 5-0 record, outscoring opponents 41-9 in the process. Much more of this, please.
D1Softball calculated that 17 games involving ranked teams, including six games between ranked teams, were rained out at the Clearwater Invitational a couple of weeks ago. Not ideal. But this is a must-read story by Justin McLeod about a game between Oklahoma State and Florida that was cancelled because of said rain, and made up on Monday night thanks to a few text messages between coaches/friends and a lot of quick action from organizers and admin. Only in softball, my friends.
Another uniquely softball story? Severe thunderstorms are in the forecast in the midwest this week, so No. 12 Florida State preemptively cancelled their appearance at the Jane Sanders Classic in Eugene, Oregon this weekend, given anticipated travel complications. FSU assistant coach Travis Wilson then tweeted out that the team was looking for some last-minute opponents so it could get some games in this weekend. I hope his DM slides look better than mine.
Stanford’s NiJaree Canady remains one of my favorite pitchers to watch.
Here’s ESPN with a preview of the 2024 season — even though we’re a few weeks in, I still think it’s a good primer.
Before I give you the Top 25 games this week, let me rant for a second: IT IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS THAT THERE ARE STILL TOP 25 SOFTBALL GAMES THAT WILL NOT BE BROADCAST ANYWHERE, EVEN ON A STREAM. The Judi Garman Classic, which features three top-25 teams, has zero streaming/broadcast options. Unacceptable.
Anyways, here are the Top 25 games this week, as of now:
No. 9 Clemson vs. No. 3 Georgia (Wednesday, Feb. 28; 5:00pm ET; SECN+)
No. 24 California vs. No. 3 Georgia (Friday, March 1; 3:00pm ET; and Saturday, March 2; 4:30pm ET)
No. 15 Florida vs. No. 19 UCLA (Friday, March 1; 5:30pm ET)
No. 21 Arizona vs. No. 11 Alabama (Friday, March 1; 7:30pm ET; SECN+)
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 12 Stanford (Saturday, March 2; 7:00pm ET; and Sunday, March 3; 3:00pm ET; Stanford livestream)
College gymnastics
We’re two months into the NCAA Gymnastics season, which looks a little bit different than last year, because some big names — such as Trinity Thomas, Suni Lee, and Jordan Chiles — aren’t competing because they’re focussing on qualifying for the Paris Olympics this summer. But still, there is plenty of talent — including from some Olympic hopefuls — to go around in the college gymnastics world.
Here’s the Top 10 as of February 26, via RoadToNationals:
Notably, just like in softball, Oklahoma is leading the way. The Sooners have won six of the last nine national championships, including the last two in a row, and are looking good for a three-peat — last weekend, they set a program record of 198.675 in a win over West Virginia, which is the fourth-highest score in NCAA history.
In other relevant NCAA gym news:
Earlier this month, we got the final edition of the conference rivalry between Utah and UCLA, which will be one of the great tragedies of the Pac-12’s demise. Utah beat UCLA to capture bragging rights forever, but UCLA’s Selena Harris took home the All-Around title with a phenomenal performance, including a perfect 10 on vault.
Oregon State’s Jade Carey has officially surpassed 100 event titles in her collegiate career — in fact, she’s now up to 105, I believe.
Behind a powerhouse performance by Emily Shepard, NC State clinched its first ACC regular-season title in school history with a victory over Clemson two weeks ago.
Earlier this month, LSU’s Haleigh Bryant became the 14th women’s gymnast to record a career gym slam — that means she’s scored a perfect 10 on every event. This weekend, Florida’s Leanne Wong joined her as the 15th!!
Let’s talk a bit more about Florida and Leanne Wong, shall we? Last Friday, No. 5 Florida had a huge meet against No. 2 LSU. The meet came down to the final performances on floor exercise for Florida. And there was a lot of drama. First, Peyton Richards was injured on her first tumbling pass and had to be carried off the floor. This left all the pressure on Wong, who had to score a 9.825 to clinch the victory. Well, she did that and more, getting her first perfect 10 on floor. It was an iconic moment for Wong, who still plans to make the transition back to elite gymnastics this spring and vie for a spot on the Paris Olympics team.
I would not count out Wong, ever. Just read this paragraph by D’Arcy Maine at ESPN about Wong’s triumphant Friday:
Wong is now the 15th gymnast in NCAA history, and fourth at Florida, to have earned a perfect score on every event during her collegiate career. She later said she felt "very accomplished" after what she considered a productive day: She had recorded the best all-around score of the season (39.875) by any gymnast in the country, the bars title and a share of the titles on floor and beam, while also taking a midterm exam in American history, a quiz in a health class and completing three biology assignments.
You feel pretty lazy right now, don’t you??
In 2026, Wilberforce University will be the third HBCU to launch a women’s gymnastics team, following in the footsteps of Fisk University and Talladega College. We love to see it.
Here’s everything you need to know about the NCAA gymnastics championships in April.
Finally, here are a few meets to watch this weekend:
No. 9 Alabama vs. No. 2 LSU (Friday, March 1; 6:00pm ET; ESPN2)
No. 14 Auburn vs. No. 20 Georgia (Friday, March 1; 7:00pmET; SECN)
No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 1 Oklahoma (Friday, March 1; 7:30pmET; ESPN2)
No. 10 UCLA vs. No. 24 Stanford (Friday, March 1; 8:00pmET; PAC12N)
No. 17 Arizona State vs. No. 18 Oregon State (Friday, March 1; 10:00pmET; PAC12N)
No. 4 Utah vs. No. 3 California (Saturday, March 2; 5:00pmET; PAC12 Insider)
No. 5 Florida vs. No. 6 Kentucky (Sunday, March 3; 2:00pmET; ESPN2)
No. 12 Arkansas vs. No. 13 Missouri (Sunday, March 3; 6:00pmET; SECN)
We’ve got one more catch-up coming tomorrow, where we look at the new pro hockey and volleyball leagues, and look at how the LPGA and WTA are doing early in the year. Then there are big things to come in March!! Stay tuned. I appreciate you. So very much.