Are there more upsets in the Sweet 16 store of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament?

Four teams beat their tickets to the NCAA Elite Eight women’s basketball tournament. And for the first time in March, a No. 1 seed was removed as NC State headed home. While the chalk took place in the River Walk Regional to set up a showdown between UConn, number 1, and Baylor, second, upsets reigned at Mercado, where Indiana, fourth and Arizona, will make their first appearance in the Elite Eight.

With four more tap games on Sunday, which teams will join the Huskies, Lady Bears, Hoosiers and Wildcats? Oregon is ripe for upset seed no. 2 Louisville? What’s next for Iowa and Caitlin Clark, who were fired on their Huskies and Christyn Williams career day? And we’ll get a jump on expectations in Monday’s Baylor-UConn regional final (7pm ET, ESPN / ESPN app).

Follow this link for Sunday’s NCAA Tour Tips and visit here to check out the Women’s Challenge Tournament bracket.

A game went to overtime. Two ended in annoyance. Which team impressed you the most on Saturday?

Flexible: It’s a boring answer, but I have to say UConn. Juniors Christyn Williams, Evina Westbrook and Olivia Nelson-Ododa even looked and played as upper classes and leaders. Aaliyah Edwards was such a dominant presence inside the Huskies, going 9 of 11 on the field for 18 points. Colleague Paige Bueckers also played a very controlled game, understanding how well those around her played. She did not try to do too much or force things and showed a lot of maturity, which was the case during her first college season.

Arizona stood out, too. Wildcats are known for their defense and finished what Troy and Iowa State approached, but could not do.

But along with the defense that kept Texas A&M at 59 points, the Wildcats also did a decent job offensively. They took control with a third quarter of 24-14. Aari McDonald was brilliant with 31 points, but everyone around her did her part too.

Cream: Even with a record of 1-2 on Saturday, Big Ten remained impressive. Michigan took Baylor, who was one of the most dominant teams in the NCAA tournament, in overtime. Wolverines followed up to 12 at the end of the second quarter, but did not disappear. Baylor owns teams with a shot of 31.7%; Michigan scored 46%. Wolverines continued to find open eyes against a typically blocked defense. Another stop or two on defense and Wolverines could have shot the stunner.

Indiana entered Sweet 16 with a little fanfare. Now the Hoosiers are the first team to pull off a No. 1 series. Their 73-70 win over NC State exemplified everything they’ve been all season – balanced, disciplined, smart, painful. All five starters scored in double figures. They taught the ball only nine times (at NC State’s 17). Indiana collected more rebounds and had more points in the paint than a higher Wolfpack team.

In control of the game for almost the entire second half, with an advance of up to 13 in the fourth quarter, Indiana let NC State enter the game late. The lead narrowed to two, but senior rookies Nicole Hillary-Cardano and Ali Patberg made the free throws needed in the final 21 seconds to put Indiana in the program’s first Elite Eight.

In November, Iowa was nowhere to be seen in the pre-season standings. With most of the list – including Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano – waiting back, where will Iowa 2021-22 start?

Flexible: Hawkeyes can certainly build from this; they played a lot of games on Saturday against UConn, but the Huskies had too many offensive weapons and too much defense.

Caitlin Clark, originally from Iowa, took the time to make her college decision. She could have gone to many places, but the chance to do something great for a program about two hours from her hometown mattered to her.

“The reason I came to Iowa is because I wanted to do something special,” Clark said. “I think more and more people are starting to go that route. I think it’s important, especially since this is my home state, I wanted to go here. I know I’m in the right place. This season has really been special.

“I think for this team it’s just from here. So I know a lot of girls dream of going to all that blue blood, but I think playing for your home state is really something special. … There was a real belief that We were going to do Final Four sometime. I didn’t say we were going to do it in my first year here. “

Cream: The beauty of watching a season evolving and adopting a life of its own is a team like Iowa. Most people felt that Clark would be an impact bud, but Iowa was not ranked in the pre-season for the most part because the departures of Kathleen Doyle and Makenzie Meyer seemed too big to fill. Clark changed that. She gave the game a new star, and Hawkeyes an immediate base.

With much of the list returning and Clark ready to become an American pillar, there’s little chance the Hawkeyes will stay out of the pre-season rankings next season. In fact, they are set to become a class leader next year and will start there in our first off-season Bracketology.

Our panel was divided into which team will win the Oregon-Louisville match on Sunday (19:00 ET, ESPN / ESPN application). What is the key to the match?

Cream: I think a lot of us chose Oregon based on Louisville’s slow start so far in the NCAA tournament. In the end, that’s up to the cardinals, right? Louisville fell 15-12 to Marist and 25-10 to Northwestern after the first quarter. Oregon managed to build a small early advantage against Georgia in their second-round game, but kept South Dakota eight points clear of the first quarter in the opening round.

So the opening of 10 minutes is the key to this match. There is no doubt that Louisville coach Jeff Walz addressed the poor precarious game with his team. Now we’ll see if the message resonates. Oregon may be too good for the Cardinals to get out of another big hole.

Two transfers will also be the key for ducks. Sedona Prince, a transfer of 6 meters and 7, who came from Texas, seems to have taken his step in the tournament and to do well with the size of Georgia with 22 points. Louisville offers a challenge similar to 6-5 Elizabeth Dixon and 6-3 Olivia Cochran.

Taylor Mikesell, who arrived at Eugene in Maryland, will also play a huge role. Mikesell, a great player, had to deal with the ball much later in the season, with the goalkeeper Te-Hina Paopao, who came out of the first year, with an injured leg. Against Lady Bulldogs, she scored 11 points, knocked down 2 of 4 3-point attempts and had just three turnovers in 34 minutes.

Dana Evans, Louisville American, did not play well in this postseason, but she is still a good defender. If Mikesell can offer a similar game against Evans, Oregon’s chances of advancing look even better.

Seeder no. 6 Michigan took Baylor on overtime. What did Lady Bears learn from the tight call that will help her head into Elite Eight against UConn, a game that has been eagerly anticipated for months of selection?

Cream: I was surprised that although I needed the extra time, I never felt that Lady Bears was not playing well. They fired 50% of the field. Apart from a free kick, NaLyssa Smith did not miss more than 44 minutes of action. Baylor got a bigger production from Moon Ursin and DiJonai Carrington. This is a tribute to Michigan’s performance.

The Wolverines were well prepared and executed their game plan to near perfection. Leigha Brown (23 points, 7 rebounds) – who has been forced to stay for more than 30 days due to COVID-19 protocols this season – seemed to be at the top and it’s a shame she doesn’t have any more games to play this season. Wolverines deserves far more credit than Baylor deserves to be criticized.

But as Lady Bears clashes with UConn, it’s important to note that Baylor was in the top five nationally in each return category and led the country in the return margin. Dominance was not there against Michigan. While Lady Bears overtook the Wolverines, it was only 37-32. More importantly, Baylor had only 15 points of the second chance. This is usually an essential element of the Lady Bears offense. They had no reason to rely and kept Michigan close.

Meanwhile, UConn completely dominated the window against Iowa, 42-27, allowing only seven offensive rebounds by Hawkeyes. Each game is different and takes on its own personality, but the Huskies have staff, especially with Edwards playing a more substantial role (he had his third consecutive 18-point game against Iowa), to do even more than Michigan did on tables, potentially eliminating what would have been perceived as a great Baylor advantage.

When Lady Bears defeated UConn 74-58 a year ago, they dominated the comeback numbers 44-26. If Baylor wants to become only the fourth team to defeat the Huskies three times in a row in the last 20 years (North Carolina, Notre Dame and Tennessee are the others), regaining that boast on the window could be key.

Flexible: As Charlie said, Baylor didn’t do too much wrong – the Michigan-Baylor game was the best played by both teams on Saturday. It was really fun, and Baylor coach Kim Mulkey gave her Michigan counterpart Kim Barnes Arico many congratulations on how hard and good the Wolverines played, pushing Baylor into the overtime buzzer.

Baylor and UConn are so elite in so many categories, including in the percentage defense of field goals and comebacks. Both teams play high level defense, which is why the second chance opportunities could be great, because there will not be many.