Final Four tips off in Tampa | NCAA All-Stars show out | UConn goes for gold

Level up, level up, level up, level up, level up.

And then there were four…

UCLA, UConn, Texas, and South Carolina have touched down in Tampa, each team laser-focused on tonight’s NCAA Final Four with a trip to Sunday’s national championship game on the line.

• SEC titans Texas and South Carolina will square off for the fourth time this season, with the Longhorns looking to upset the reigning champs in their first Final Four appearance since 2003.

• UCLA and UConn will later link up for the first time since 2023, with the Bruins fighting for a ticket to their first-ever championship game against a tournament-tested — but title-less — Huskies class.

Big picture: Three of tonight’s teams entered the tournament as No. 1 seeds — Texas, South Carolina, and UCLA — while all four ranked among the AP’s Top 10 throughout the regular season.

• “Not only is every team different in terms of their talent base and strengths and weaknesses, but their makeup internally is different,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said on Thursday.

• “Whoever gets through this semifinal and final will have done it against the best of the best,” said Texas head coach Vic Schaefer. “We all understand it. It’s hard to do.”

• "It’s going to come down to heart, effort, and controlling the things that we can control, which is attitude and effort,” echoed South Carolina senior Te-Hina PaoPao.

Bottom line: After a year of unparalleled parity at the top, there can still only be one winner — and whoever cuts the nets down on Sunday will surely be worthy.

Tune in: The Final Four tips off tonight at 7 PM ET on ESPN, with Sunday’s NCAA championship game starting at 3 PM ET on ABC.

NCAA All-Stars steal Saturday’s spotlight

March Madness isn’t the only game in town this weekend, as Saturday’s College All-Star Game provides WNBA hopefuls one last showcase before April 14th’s draft.

• Voted on by members of the media and former coaches, this year’s roster features four All-Americans — Izzy Higginbottom (Arkansas), Shyanne Sellers (Maryland), Makayla Timpson (Florida State), and Harmoni Turner (Harvard) — alongside 16 All-Conference honorees.

How it works: Returning to Final Four Weekend in 2024 after an 18-year hiatus, the game gives seniors no longer playing in the NCAA tournament a chance to show off their skills in front of pro scouts and a sold-out crowd.

• WNBA legends Nancy Lieberman and Cheryl Miller will coach two 10-player teams on Saturday, with longtime college coach Terri Mitchell serving as Game Ambassador.

• An additional nine prospects are joining in for today’s College All-Star Combine, with invitees including tournament standouts Michigan’s Jordan Hobbs and NC State’s Madison Hayes.

Bottom line: As college basketball grows more competitive, the All-Star Game plays an important role in keeping the NCAA-to-WNBA pipeline moving.

Tune in: The College All-Star Game tips off on Saturday at 3 PM ET, live on ESPN2.

Final Four spotlight: UConn

Every day this week, JWS is spotlighting a different Final Four team in the lead-up to Friday’s NCAA tournament double-header.

UConn might be the lowest seed left standing, but their championship pedigree looms largest of all, as the Huskies gear up to face No. 1 seed UCLA tonight in their quest to end a nine-year NCAA title drought.

• “Before you even get here, you kind of know the pressures that exist by committing to UConn,” star guard Paige Bueckers said ahead of the Huskies’ 24th Final Four appearance. “It’s a decision you have to make even before you step on campus.”

Big picture: Reaching four of the last five tournament semifinals despite battling years of injury and availability concerns, UConn’s senior class is hell-bent on proving themselves once and for all on college basketball’s biggest stage.

• This year’s run has benefitted greatly from backcourt duo Bueckers and Azzi Fudd — reunited in the postseason for the first time in over two years — alongside freshman All-American Sarah Strong and key transfer Kaitlyn Chen.

Powered by Paige: Already UConn’s third all-time leading scorer, Bueckers has been on a scoring tear en route to the Final Four, dropping 30 points in her last three outings as she gears up to enter the 2025 WNBA Draft.

• “When I say unique, I think she’s closer to one or two or three of most unique players I’ve ever coached,” legendary UConn boss Geno Auriemma said after Monday’s Elite Eight win. “And I’m really going to miss her.”

Bottom line: This Huskies squad has navigated both long-term adversity and recent hurdles with skill and confidence — but will they be the team that gets UConn back on the trophy-winning track?

Flau’jae stays put

21-year-old LSU junior Flau’jae Johnson will not be declaring for the 2025 WNBA Draft, with The Athletic reporting yesterday that the guard has opted instead to play out her final year of college eligibility.

• Now the question is where, with Johnson having plenty of time to decide if she’ll stay at LSU or join a new program before the transfer portal closes on April 22nd.

Portal madness: No. 1 seed USC is the latest big-name team to experience roster shakeups, with two prominent freshman testing the market following Monday’s NCAA tournament exit.

• Trojans Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel have both entered the portal, after each averaged more than six points per game on their way to the Elite Eight.

March Madness viewership holds strong

This year’s NCAA tournament continues to deliver, with last weekend’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight scoring the second-largest viewership on record while ESPN reports significant gains over 2023’s coverage.

• This year’s third round averaged 1.4 million viewers — including four of the Top 10 most-watched Sweet 16 games of all time — with numbers down just 3% from 2024’s Caitlin Clark-fueled spike.

• With all four Elite Eight games ranking among ESPN’s all-time Top 10, UCLA’s Sunday win over LSU topped the weekend bill with an average of 3.4 million viewers.

Question of the day