NCAA women's basketball had a crazy last week. We went from having nine undefeated squads to having only four in a matter of days. LSU, Maryland, TCU, Iowa State, and Nebraska were all handed their first losses of the season — some even to unranked opponents. Right now, UConn, Texas, Texas Tech, and Vanderbilt are all still riding that undefeated wave — but could that all change sooner rather than later?
We're to the point in the season where everyone is on upset watch. The field seems even more competitive this year; any team could beat any team. Some squads are hanging onto their AP poll positioning for dear life, and an upset could knock them off completely. While a couple are trying to prove their worth after back-to-back losses.
Here are three teams on upset watch this week.
Texas Longhorns vs. LSU
Let's start with the least likely possibility, but still worth discussing nonetheless. The Longhorns seem like a really strong title contender. They've not had a close, worrisome game since late November when they faced South Carolina — they were dominating every opponent until last week. Texas survived a close 67-64 matchup against No. 15 Ole Miss.
This week, they will take on Auburn, whom they should be able to beat. But the second half of their week looks dicey. On Sunday, Texas will take on LSU, who have lost two in a row after starting their season undefeated. Before facing the Longhorns, LSU will take on unranked Georgia, who they will most likely beat. However, Texas will be the third ranked opponent the Tigers will face this season, and we all know exactly what they're thinking. They want to prove they can beat a ranked opponent after falling to two in a row.
Texas should prepare for a hot LSU team looking to bounce back and show everyone that they're wrong. My mind especially goes to Flau'Jae Johnson, who was held scoreless by Vanderbilt.
Iowa vs. Oregon
The Hawkeyes are currently sitting at No. 14 in the rankings. They've had a decent season with their only two losses coming from UConn and Iowa State. They are also undefeated in Big Ten play so far. But this week, they will face two Big Ten opponents. One being Indiana, who has struggled in conference play and have lost their last three games — Iowa should be able to breeze by them.
Although Iowa might have to worry about Oregon. The two will face off next Thursday in Iowa. The reason I'm highlighting this matchup is that Oregon just showed us what they can do in their win over USC. They came back from a 16-point deficit at the half, and ultimately scored the final 14 points of the game — holding the Trojans to 0 points in the last 4-and-a-half minutes. The Ducks also took No. 6 Michigan to double overtime recently. Iowa is a solid squad, but I think Oregon might try to run with the little glimpses of success they've seen.
North Carolina vs. Notre Dame
Last week, sitting at No. 16 in the rankings, the Tar Heels faced unranked Stanford. The game went into overtime, where the Heels suffered a 77-71 loss. Some people definitely thought this would knock them out of the AP Top 25, but they ended up at No. 22. Next, they will take on Notre Dame, Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Notre Dame found itself dropping out of the rankings completely after their most recent loss to Duke. They have had a less-than-ideal year, currently sitting at seventh in the ACC. But you know what would boost them up a bit, a win over a ranked conference opponent. UNC could be their prime target. Stanford was able to hold star Heel, Indya Nivar, to only 5 points in 37 minutes on the court. If Notre Dame can do the same defensively, they could upset North Carolina. The Tar Heels are obviously looking to bounce back here, but so is Notre Dame after suffering two losses in a row.