A star-studded NCAA women’s basketball season has no shortage of contenders

There has been no shortage of star power in women’s college basketball this season, and the brightest stars have played their teams into early contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with Selection Sunday now only about two months away.

It’s still too early in the season to consider a team a lock for the top seed line, but South Carolina is about as close as it gets in January to a sure No. 1 seed. The Gamecocks (16-0) are the last remaining undefeated team in the country after Baylor and UCLA both suffered their first losses in the past week. Per Her Hoop Stats, South Carolina is expected to be double-digit favorites in every remaining game of the regular season, including its game next week against defending national champion LSU.

While the Gamecocks look entirely different from last year’s Final Four team after all five starters graduated, they still find themselves in familiar territory atop the Associated Press poll. Kamilla Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 senior center, anchors this year’s team in the paint, but the evolution of the guard play behind the addition of Oregon transfer Te-Hina Paopao has transformed South Carolina’s offense. The Gamecocks shot a mediocre 31% from 3-point range last season; this year they are shooting a Division I-leading 43.6%. It all adds up to an offense averaging more than 90 points per game.

The Pac-12 Conference, which has four teams ranked in the top 10 of this week’s AP poll, is also driving the conversation about which teams could earn a top seed come tournament time. Despite its loss to Southern California on Sunday, UCLA (14-1) has the strongest case among Pac-12 schools for a No. 1 seed. Even after that loss to the Trojans dropped the Bruins from No. 2 to No. 5 in the AP rankings, UCLA is 6-1 against teams in the top 50 of the NET ratings. The backcourt of Charisma Osborne and Kiki Rice has picked up where it left off for the Bruins last season, and the addition of Stanford transfer Lauren Betts, a 6-7 center averaging a team-high 15.6 points and 8.6 rebounds, has lifted UCLA to a new level of success.

Stanford (15-2) is also in the mix thanks to national player of the year candidate Cameron Brink, who is averaging 17.6 points and 11.1 rebounds. Brink’s success in her senior season, coupled with the emergence of junior Kiki Iriafen, who is also averaging a double-double at 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds, has helped the No. 8 Cardinal tally four wins against NET top-25 teams. That ties UCLA and Iowa for the most in the country, and the Pac-12 will continue to provide opportunities to add to that résumé. Seven of the conference’s 12 teams rank in the top 25 of the NET ratings.

Southern Cal (13-1) and Colorado (15-1) also can’t be counted out for a chance at a top seed. Each is 3-1 against the top 25 teams in the NET ratings. The Trojans are up to No. 6 in the AP rankings after that win over UCLA, which featured a 32-point performance from freshman phenomenon JuJu Watkins. No. 3 Colorado, which is the last team without a loss in Pac-12 play, beat Stanford 71-59 on Sunday to begin a three-game stretch against top-10 teams that continues Friday against UCLA and concludes Sunday against USC.

Elsewhere, Caitlin Clark-led Iowa is the overwhelming favorite to win the Big Ten and also has an inside track to a No. 1 seed after reaching the national title game last year as a No. 2. Clark, who is averaging 30.9 points per game for the Hawkeyes, has quieted any concerns over whether Iowa can replicate last season’s success without Monika Czinano. No. 2 Iowa (18-1) has won 16 games in a row since an early season loss to Kansas State, including eight of its past nine games by at least 20 points.

Connecticut (14-3 entering Wednesday) was a No. 1 seed for 12 consecutive seasons from 2006-07 to 2017-18, but it was a No. 2 seed in three of the past four tournaments and its chances of ending up on the top seed line this year looked bleak in early December after the Huskies took their third loss of the season against Texas. Despite four season-ending injuries on the roster, coach Geno Auriemma has turned things around and the metrics lay out a path to a No. 1 seed. U-Conn’s only losses (against North Carolina State, UCLA and Texas) have come to top-10 teams in the NET ratings, and the Huskies themselves have climbed to No. 4 in that metric and are No. 9 in the AP poll. Connecticut has the toughest strength of schedule in the country, but Paige Bueckers’ efficiency on both ends of the court has propelled the Huskies to a 7-3 record against the NET top 50, including convincing wins over the likes of Louisville and Creighton.

N.C. State (15-1), which handed U-Conn its first loss of the season in November, looks like the favorite in the ACC. The Wolfpack have surged from being unranked in the preseason to one of the top teams in the nation and are No. 4 in the latest AP rankings. Their only blemish this season is a one-point road loss to Virginia Tech.

Finally, 11th-ranked Texas is No. 2 in the NET ratings and is another team with the metrics to contend for a No. 1 seed. But the Longhorns (17-2) have lost twice (to Baylor and Kansas State) since starting point guard Rori Harmon was sidelined with an ACL injury last month. The loss of Harmon, who was the facilitator of the Longhorns’ offense and the driver of their defensive energy, could derail Texas’s upward trajectory.

Plenty can still happen between now and March 17, when four teams will hear their names announced as top seeds. Anticipation for what should be an incredibly competitive NCAA Tournament will only continue to build before then.