The 2022-23 season ended with the most-viewed women’s college basketball game on record as the national championship returned to network television for the first time since 1995. Broadcast on ABC and ESPN2, 9.9 million viewers tuned in as LSU beat Iowa 102-85.
What has happened since then? Glad you asked.
We head into 2023-24 with LSU ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25. For the second straight offseason, coach Kim Mulkey cleaned up in the transfer portal to make the Tigers — who have Final Four Most Outstanding Player Angel Reese back — the favorites on the road to Cleveland, where the national semifinals and title game will be played April 5-7 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Despite big personnel losses, led by WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, South Carolina — which spent all last season at No. 1 before losing in the Final Four — will still be in the hunt. With Paige Bueckers, who missed last season because of an ACL injury, and Azzi Fudd, who was limited to 15 games by knee issues, back and healthy, UConn is another front-runner as the Huskies pursue a 12th national championship.
But while some things remain the same … along comes conference realignment. Stanford seeks one more Pac-12 title before the conference as we know it…
