Looking across the women’s college basketball landscape is a lot like looking at your stock portfolio. Some stocks are on the rise, others may have fallen off and a few might still be worth holding on to as the market continues to fluctuate. February feels like the perfect time to check things over and reassess because March Madness is right around the corner. And as the NCAA women’s basketball committee gets ready to reveal its first Top 16 on Thursday, it’s important to remember what goes into tournament seeding. Overall and conference records matter, but so do win margins, strength of schedule, injuries, player availability and head-to-head competition. Just like stocks, there’s a lot to consider.
So, let’s crack open those wallets of fandom. For the next few weeks leading up to the 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
Iowa (19-4 overall, 11-1 conference; second Big Ten; NET: 8, AP: 5)
The Hawkeyes played a varied nonconference schedule at the beginning of the season, losing to Kansas State, UConn and NC State. But they’ve since been on an upswing, riding an eight-game winning streak against tough Big Ten competition. A close loss to…
