Like the stock market, predicting what happens in women’s college basketball from week to week isn’t an easy endeavor. Upsets lurk around every corner. A top team or player could have an off night. A lower-ranked team could play at a higher level. Unexpected injuries arise. All you can do is take the information you have at your disposal and make educated decisions based on the facts in front of you. Whatever happens from there happens. Which means sometimes those predictions go right out the window. But that’s what makes it so much fun.
So, let’s crack open those wallets of fandom. For the next few weeks leading up to the NCAA Tournament, I’ll give you my best advice for rising and falling teams, ones to hold on to and ride out the storm with and some that are just too volatile to trust.
Rising
South Carolina (25-0 overall, 12-0 in conference; first SEC, NET: 1, AP: 1)
South Carolina’s stock was already high, and the Gamecocks were looking to be a lock for the No. 1 seed before Sunday’s game against No. 3 LSU. And yet somehow their reputation is even more solid after a dominating 88-64 win over the Tigers. The Gamecocks were on another level from the start, going up 18-2 on LSU midway through the first quarter. Aliyah Boston (14 points, nine rebounds and three…
