00:00All right, let's put on our dancing shoes and break down the women's NCAA tournament with our women's basketball hoops
00:06insider and reporter Madeline Kenny.
00:09Madeline, thanks for hopping on with us.
00:11It is time to go dancing.
00:14Let's break this thing down right now.
00:17Let's start off with that random team that you feel like can be the belle of the ball this year.
00:23Who are your Cinderella teams that you think that we should keep an eye out on?
00:29Yeah, I mean, it's hard to pick a Cinderella team with the bracket this year, but the teams that I
00:33think that could kind of be a bracket buster is definitely Villanova.
00:38They're playing Texas Tech in the first round and they have the Big East leading score.
00:44I think Texas Tech is kind of crawling into the tournament.
00:47They've lost like four of their or three of their last four games.
00:51And so I think that Villanova could definitely be a bracket buster.
00:56And then the other one, I think, too, is like Ole Miss.
00:58Ole Miss has been pretty good all season.
01:00I mean, they have some huge wins.
01:02They most recently had a big win against Vanderbilt.
01:05I think Ole Miss, I could definitely see them beating Minnesota in the second round and going to the Sweet
01:1116 yet again.
01:12Now, will they get beyond Sweet 16?
01:14I'm not sure about that.
01:15But I do think that Ole Miss is one of those sneaky good teams that if everything's clicking and they're
01:21all on the same page, they could make a run for it.
01:23All right, the Lady Wildcats and the Lady Rebels ready to put on their glass slippers and go dancing and
01:29bust some brackets out there.
01:31So who's going to be the one that gets everyone's bracket busted?
01:36Who's that overhyped team, that top seed that you think is not going to make it to the Final Four?
01:43Yeah, I mean, that's – when everything was revealed on Sunday, the bracket, I was thinking Regional 2 is the
01:51hardest.
01:51And that is the hardest bracket for sure, the hardest region to be in, excuse me.
01:56But I do think UCLA is a lock for the Final Four.
02:01And so then I'm looking at Regional 3, and that's where I think things could get a little hairy.
02:06You have Texas as the number one seed, Michigan's number two.
02:10You also have Louisville in that regional.
02:14And so I think that any of those three teams have Final Four potential.
02:18And I really like actually Louisville.
02:21Like they – their record does not tell the story of their season.
02:24They've had a lot of close encounters in a lot of those, like, games that they've lost by one point,
02:30two point, you know, maybe in overtime against really good teams.
02:34And so I think that Louisville can go toe-to-toe with anyone.
02:38And Texas, I mean, they're coming off an SEC championship in the SEC tournament.
02:42They knocked off South Carolina.
02:43So, of course, they're going to have a lot of confidence.
02:45But I do think that there are just some teams in this – in that regional that could knock Texas
02:50off and prevent them from going back to the Final Four.
02:53All right, Maddie, I'm going to set up my next question by asking you a question.
02:56How – are you a bracket person?
02:58How many brackets do you have filled out?
03:01Yeah, I usually fill out one with the heart and one with the head.
03:05You know what I mean?
03:06Like I think one through and I think that all of the games that I've watched and all of the
03:10information that I've, like, taken in, I know what I'm talking about.
03:13But then I've got to fill one out with the heart.
03:15And so I usually fill out two for men's and women's.
03:18Okay, let's go with the one with the head.
03:20And think about that number one bracket that you have, that if the aliens came and said that we were
03:26going to zap you, then you had to use this bracket to get unzapped.
03:32Give us your Final Four and your national champion.
03:37Well, I know that I just talked about Texas.
03:39And I said I really think that they're not locked for the Final Four.
03:44But I did pick Texas.
03:45I think it's Texas, South Carolina, UCLA, and UConn.
03:49And I know it might be a cop-out because they're all the number one seeds.
03:52And that seems like an easy pick.
03:53But I really do think that those are the four best teams in this tournament.
03:57And that they're strong contenders to win the title.
03:59Any four of them.
04:00But the one that's going to win, I'm saying definitely.
04:03Because I don't see this going any other way.
04:05But I think it's going to be UConn.
04:07They've just been so dominant all season.
04:09You have two of the top five best players in the nation on one team.
04:13You have Sarah Strong, AZ Fudd.
04:15How are you supposed to stop both of them, let alone one of them?
04:18And so I think that UConn just has better depth.
04:23They have the confidence.
04:25They have that steadiness to them.
04:28Gino's done it before.
04:30The pressure does not seem to phase this team.
04:32I really think that UConn is an obvious national champion pick.
04:37All right, there you go.
04:39And, yeah, I think I'm going to do that this year.
04:41I'm going to fill out one with the heart, one with the head.
04:43I like that little method you have to the madness.
04:46We always talk about when it comes to the tournament, whether it's men's or women's,
04:50we get glued.
04:51We fall in love with the storyline.
04:53And, obviously, the Caitlin Clark storyline kind of captured America's heart.
04:58So who is that player, that Caitlin Clark, or even Caitlin Clarks of this year's tournament?
05:04That girl that we're going to see on SportsCenter after each game
05:07because she completely dominated.
05:10Yeah, I mean, there's so many amazing March Madness memories of, like, fantastic performances.
05:16I always think of, like, Arike's game winner against UConn is just, I mean, it's legendary.
05:22And so, like, you know what they say, legacies are built in March.
05:25And the player that I'm most excited to see is Michaela Blakes.
05:29And I just wrote a big feature on her.
05:30It was in our Monday paper about her path to Vanderbilt.
05:34And the way that she kind of bet on herself and bet on Vanderbilt.
05:38And now they're the number two seed in regional one.
05:42They could very well face UConn in the lead eight.
05:46And I think that Michaela Blakes, I mean, she's just a baller.
05:49She has a three-level scorer.
05:50She has an amazing footwork.
05:52She has a quick, probably the quickest first step in the league.
05:55I mean, like, I just think that she is an all-around package.
05:59And the potential to see her and Sarah Strong share the court and go, you know, head-to-head in
06:07the potential lead eight matchup,
06:08that I'm so excited to see that.
06:10But there's so many other players I could list.
06:13All right, Maddie, we appreciate you all hopping on with this.
06:15We're definitely going to be checking in throughout the course of the tournament.
06:18Thank you for your time.
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