The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament begins Wednesday, March 18, but before that, teams across the country will compete for the chance at winning their respective conference championships.
Conference tournaments, which begins during the first week of March for many programs, highlights some of the best talent across women’s college basketball that more people should know about.
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Perhaps fans have heard of UConn, UCLA, South Carolina, and Texas, but are they paying attention to under-the-radar teams quietly proving they belong among the elite programs?
With this in mind, here are five of the most underrated teams in the nation that could make a big impression in the days and weeks ahead.
After two seasons under head coach Shawn Poppie, the Tigers already have reached 20-win mark. It’s the first time Clemson has reached 20 victories since the 2018-2019 season and just the second time in the last 25 years. The Tigers also have double-digit wins in ACC play under Poppie, including a signature victory over Duke. On Feb. 22, Clemson upset the then-13th-ranked Blue Devils with a late 3-pointer from guard Hannah Kohn. The win snapped Duke’s 17-game winning streak.
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Led by senior guard Mia Moore, Clemson has plenty of scoring depth and operates well around the perimeter, with 8.4 made 3-pointers per game. Clemson also has a solid defense that allows it to stay in games even on nights when their offense may falter. The Tigers average just over 14 forced turnovers per matchup.
Georgia started its season 14-0 before beginning SEC play in January. The Bulldogs have some head-turning wins that deserve attention. Georgia has ranked victories over Ole Miss, Kentucky and a 76-74 upset over Vanderbilt in mid February.
If the Bulldogs can find ways to be consistent before March Madness begins, they could be a team with bracket-busting capabilities. Georgia is powered by sophomore guard Danie Carnegie. The Georgia Tech transfer leads the team in points (17.8) and rebounds (5.4 per game) and has 12 games of 20 points or more, including 29 against the Commodores.
Minnesota has ranked wins over USC, Ohio State and Iowa. The victories over the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes also came during a nine-game winning streak during regular-season Big Ten play. What’s more impressive is the Gophers beat Ohio State with a seven-player rotation, a feat only two other teams (Duke and UCLA) have accomplished this season. Additionally, Minnesota’s Feb. 5 win over the Hawkeyes was the program’s first top-10 road win since 2003.
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All five starters for Minnesota average 10 points or more, powering an offense that ranks fourth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.59) behind UConn, UCLA and Iowa State, and second in turnovers per game (10.4). On the defensive side of the ball, Minnesota holds opponents to an average of 57.3 points per matchup, good for 23rd in the country.
4. Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado has 10 new faces this season (five transfers and five freshmen) to add to its four returning players. Still, it hasn’t stopped the Buffs, who average 25.2 bench points per game, from competing with some of the top teams nationwide. The program also has ranked wins over Iowa State, TCU and Texas Tech this season.
Colorado’s wins against TCU and Texas came during a five-game winning streak, where it forced an average of 16.6 turnovers per matchup. Additionally, the Buffaloes have 17 matchups this season with 10 or more steals as a team. That production is in line with Colorado’s average of 10.3 steals per game.
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5. Villanova Wildcats
With six losses this season, Villanova should be getting attention. On. Feb. 18, it led top-ranked and undefeated UConn 40-37 at halftime, the first team to do so this season. The final score, 83-69, was only the second time in UConn’s previous 16 games that the Huskies’ winning margin was below 30 points.
The Wildcats play efficiently, ranking 14th nationwide in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.37), and they share the ball. Their 18.4 assists per matchup are ninth in the country. Villanova can also beat teams from the perimeter, shooting 35.8% from the 3-point line (22nd nationally) and making an average of 8.8 shots (17th nationally) from behind the arc.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Five most underrated women’s teams before NCAA conference championships
