Editor’s note: This article is part of the Bracket Central series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s & women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.
The final weekend of the NCAA Tournament is almost upon us, but first: the Elite Eight. Four phenomenal matchups await Monday as each team vies to punch its ticket to Tampa for the Final Four.
No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 3 seed LSU face off in a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16. Two of the most prolific players in the paint this season (Lauren Betts and Aneesah Morrow) will clash. Tremendous guards fill the backcourts for each team, made more notable by LSU star Flau’jae Johnson being cleared to play after sustaining an eye injury in the Sweet 16.
In another rematch, this time from a nonconference game earlier this season, No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 2 seed Duke meet again. Will the Gamecocks roll to a fifth straight Final Four, or can the Blue Devils return for the first time in nearly two decades?
Then, a Lone Star showdown as No. 1 seed Texas and No. 2 seed TCU will battle it out. The teams play different styles; the Horned Frogs took 25.3 3-point attempts this season (26th in the nation) compared to 10.7 per game from the Longhorns (358th in the nation). Texas finished in…
