Women's Champ Week predictions: Which teams will win the auto bids?
Championship Week is underway. The Ohio Valley Conference will crown the first champion on Saturday. By Selection Sunday on March 12, 32 women’s college basketball teams will have punched their tickets to the 2023 women’s NCAA tournament.
Which team will earn the automatic bid in each conference? Will the regular-season champions make it a sweep and win the conference tournaments as well? Or will upsets leave some favorites awaiting an at-large invitation to March Madness?
ESPN’s Charlie Creme, Alexa Philippou and M.A. Voepel predict the winners for all 32 leagues below.
Leagues are listed in the order in which tickets will be punched. Creme will continue to project the field of 68 in women’s Bracketology right through Selection Sunday.
The NCAA tournament opens March 15-16 with the First Four, and will crown the 2023 national champion in Dallas on April 2. Be sure to sign up for the Women’s Tournament Challenge.
Consensus picks
Team listed first/alone is the consensus pick in each conference; teams listed in parentheses received one vote as the conference favorite.
* Denotes a unanimous pick from our panel to win the conference race.
ACC: Virginia Tech Hokies (North Carolina Tar Heels)
America East: Albany Great Danes (Vermont Catamounts)
American: South Florida Bulls (Houston Cougars)
Atlantic 10: UMass Minutewomen (Rhode Island Rams)
ASUN: Florida Gulf Coast Eagles*
Big 12: Texas Longhorns (Oklahoma Sooners)
Big East: UConn Huskies (Villanova Wildcats)
Big Sky: Sacramento State Hornets (Northern Arizona Lumberjacks)
Big South: Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs
Big Ten: Indiana Hoosiers*
Big West: UC Irvine Anteaters (Long Beach State Beach)
Colonial: No consensus (Stony Brook Seawolves, Drexel Dragons, Towson Tigers)
Conference USA: Middle Tennessee Lady Raiders
Horizon League: Green Bay Phoenix (Cleveland State Vikings)
Ivy League: Princeton Tigers (Columbia Lions)
MAAC: Iona Gaels (Quinnipiac Bobcats)
MAC: Toledo Rockets (Ball State Cardinals)
MEAC: Norfolk State Spartans*
Missouri Valley: No consensus (Belmont Bruins, Drake Bulldogs, Illinois State Redbirds)
Mountain West: UNLV Lady Rebels*
Northeast: Fairleigh Dickinson Knights*
Ohio Valley: Little Rock Trojans*
Pac-12: Stanford Cardinal*
Patriot League: Boston University Terriers*
SEC: South Carolina Gamecocks*
Southern: No consensus (Mercer Bears, East Tennessee State Bucs, Wofford Terriers)
Southland: Lamar Cardinals (SE Louisiana Lady Lions)
SWAC: Jackson State Lady Tigers*
Summit: South Dakota State Jackrabbits*
Sun Belt: James Madison Dukes (Troy Trojans)
West Coast: Gonzaga Bulldogs*
WAC: Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks (Southern Utah Thunderbirds)
