Women's college basketball season predictions: Experts make picks for Final Four, national champ and NPOY
Can South Carolina win it all? Will JuJu Watkins lead USC to the Final Four? We're making predictions as a new season begins
• 4 min read
A new college basketball season has arrived. The 2026-27 women's basketball campaign kicked off Sunday as Notre Dame took down Villanova in Rome. Most teams, though, are getting their seasons started on Monday and Tuesday.
JuJu Watkins is back, UCLA enters are defending champs and South Carolina comes into the season as the nation's No. 1 team.
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So what should we expect this season? We're predicting the 2027 Final Four, the national champion and the National Player of the Year below.
Final Four + title picks
Lindsay Gibbs |  Jack Maloney | |
|---|---|---|
| Final Four |  |  |
| Final Four | ||
| Final Four |  | |
| Final Four |  |  |
| National champ |
National Player of the Year picks
| Award | Lindsay Gibbs | Jack Maloney |
|---|---|---|
| NPOY | Sarah Strong | Sarah Strong |
Expert explanations
Gibbs: I know that there are no sure things in college sports anymore, but UConn and South Carolina making it to the Final Four is about as close as it gets. Both teams lost some key pieces last year – most notably Azzi Fudd and Raven Johnson to the WNBA – but are still incredibly stacked. UConn has the returning national player of the year, Sarah Strong, as well as veteran players like KK Arnold, Jana El Elfy and Ashlynn Shade. The Huskies are also adding Olivia Vukosa, the No. 2 player in the class per ESPN, and have sophomore Blanca Quiñonez back and ready to take on a bigger role.
There are a few more questions for USC, but mainly because the Trojans haven't made a Final Four since 1986. But they did make the Elite Eight in 2024 and 2025, and have the most talented roster of Lindsay Gottlieb's tenure. Not only is JuJu Watkins back after 588 days away due to her ACL injury, but she's joining the 2025-26 Freshman of the Year, Jazzy Davidson, and the No. 1 recruit from the class of 2026, Saniyah Hall. This should be a Final Four team at last.
The fourth team was tough to choose – Michigan, LSU, Texas, Vanderbilt, even Notre Dame are all in the mix of about 10 teams I'd consider for this spot. However, I went with Duke. Kara Lawson's squad is coming off of back-to-back Elite Eight appearances, and added the No. 4 recruiting class and Texas Transfer Aaliyah Crump to the mix. I'm expecting Toby Fournier to be in the National Player of the Year conversation and both Arianna Robinson and Riley Nelson to take big steps forward. Plus, redshirt freshman Emilee Skinner – who Lawson was bullish about ahead of the 2025-26 season before Skinner's injury interrupted it – is finally healthy. The two-time defending ACC champions are ready to take the next step.
Ultimately, though, I'm picking the Gamecocks as the national champions. Dawn Staley's team was outclassed in the title game by UConn in 2025 and UCLA in 2026, and she is not going to let that happen again. The depth in Columbia is staggering. Tessa Johnson, Agot Makeer and Joyce Edwards are back from last year's team; Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins, who both missed the entire season last year are back in the mix; Jordan Lee, one of the top guards in the portal from Texas, has joined the team; Alicia Tournebize, the 6-foot-7 Frenchwoman who only joined the Gamecocks for the second half of last year is ready to shine and, oh yeah, the No. 4 recruit, Oliviyah Edwards, and No. 6 recruit, Jerzy Robinson, are in town, too. While there is a little bit of concern over the lack of starting point guard experience, by March I'm sure Staley will have that problem solved. In fact, I think her biggest problem will be how to find enough minutes for that much top-level talent. I can't see any team having the depth and dynamism to keep up.
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Maloney: South Carolina, UConn and USC appear to be in a class of their own to start the season, and were easy picks to make the Final Four. It was much more difficult to decide on a fourth team to round out that prediction. Ultimately, I went with Texas. The Longhorns lost a lot of talent, but still have Madison Booker and brought in the top recruiting class in the country, per 247 Sports. Plus, Vic Schaefer always has his teams ready to compete in March. But Duke, LSU, Michigan and Vanderbilt all have a real chance to crash the party.
Of that group, I'll take South Carolina to win the title after back-to-back runner-up finishes. Despite losing three players from last season's team to the WNBA, the Gamecocks have an absurd amount of depth, especially in the frontcourt with the return of Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins. If Tessa Johnson and Jordan Lee can solidify the backcourt, South Carolina will be the team to beat.
On an individual level, I'll take Sarah Strong to repeat as National Player of the Year. She won it last season despite not being fully healthy and is the most versatile player in the country. Now that Strong is stepping into a bigger role without Paige Bueckers or Azzi Fudd alongside her, her numbers could be even better, and UConn is going to be one of the best teams in the country.
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