Conference USA will add Missouri State as a full conference member on July 1, 2025, the conference announced Friday.

The move will grow CUSA to 12 members in 2025, including the additions of Kennesaw State this summer and Delaware next year. It will also grow the Football Bowl Subdivision to 136 members.

“The institution boasts a great tradition in athletics and academics that will strengthen and further position our membership for long term success in the national landscape,” commissioner Judy MacLeod said in a statement. “We look forward to our partnership with President Clif Smart, incoming President Dr. Biff Williams, Director of Athletics Kyle Moats, and their entire leadership team.”

Missouri State has finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Trophy for three consecutive years. The football program is coming off a 4-7 season under first-year coach Ryan Beard, but the Bears reached the FCS playoffs with consecutive top-15 finishes under Bobby Petrino in 2020 and 2021. The men’s basketball team last reached the NCAA Tournament in 1999. The women’s basketball team reached two Final Fours in 1992 and 2001.

CUSA has been in expansion mode since late 2021, when the trickle-down effect of Texas and Oklahoma’s announced move to the SEC saw CUSA…

On Friday, the first-round games in the women’s tournament offered us a fine lesson in a fundamental difference between this version of March Madness and the one played by men. In the men’s game, the gap between the very best teams on the one hand and power-conference also-rans, the best mid-majors and even Yale on the other has become narrow enough that if everything goes right for an underdog on a bad night for a favorite, anything really can happen. That’s not yet true on the women’s side.

Talent is dispersing throughout the women’s game, and many programs are improving rapidly beyond those who are perennial championship contenders. But most top-shelf teams are still able to squash bottom-bracket opponents — and specifically to snuff out their attempts at giant-killing tactics — mostly just by being so much bigger, stronger and faster.

Even without Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech destroyed Marshall on Friday, holding the Thundering Herd to a pretty incredible 6-for-41 (14.6 percent) shooting on threes. Baylor pressured Vanderbilt into 21 turnovers. Colorado held Drake to four offensive rebounds while making more than 60 percent of their own inside shots. And those results are from games where our model thought the longshot had at least a 10 percent chance of…

The first game of the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament featured near-madness. No. 8 seed North Carolina led No. 9 seed Michigan State by 12 points with less than four minutes to play. Then, poof. UNC committed four turnovers, missed five free throws and allowed the Spartans to cut the lead to 1 with only eight seconds remaining. UNC still advanced, but perhaps the tight ending was a harbinger of what’s to come over the next three weeks. With wild finishes, timely shooting (and untimely mistakes), upsets could be aplenty.

As The Athletic did during conference tournaments, we’ll be providing briefings to keep you on top of the most important developments in the first and second rounds. Live blogs will follow starting in the Sweet 16. Here’s what you need to know about Friday’s first-round games:

As the bracket was revealed last Sunday night, LSU’s Hailey Van Lith seemed to make a prediction about her old school. If the Tigers and Louisville —the team Van Lith transferred from after three seasons — won their first-round games, they would meet in Baton Rouge in the second round. But Van Lith was caught on video appearing to say (in so many words) that she didn’t expect a reunion.

“Middle Tennessee is gonna whoop they ass”- Hailey Van Lith

The first major upset of the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament is in the books.

The No. 6 Louisville Cardinals, the only team in the country to advance to the Elite Eight each of the last five seasons, were upset by No. 11 Middle Tennessee 71-69 despite holding an 18-point lead in the first half. The Blue Raiders slowly chipped away until taking the lead for good with 6:49 to play, completing the third-largest comeback in tournament history.

It is the first time Louisville has lost in the first round since 2006 and the first time the program has failed to win an NCAA Tournament game under coach Jeff Walz, who had previously been 14-0 in the opening game.

Walz, who owns a reputation as one of the finest tournament coaches in the game because of his ability to make adjustments, instead was on the receiving end of a coaching masterclass. Middle Tennessee stretched out the Cardinals as the game wore on and got center Olivia Cochran in foul trouble, which opened up a hole in the middle of Louisville’s defense. Jalynn Gregory and Savannah Wheeler torched the Cardinals from deep (combining for seven 3-pointers) and paraded to the foul line, making…

Welcome back to Bracket Breakers, where we are excited to keep extending our search for upsets in the NCAA women’s tournament. This year, the potential Cinderellas on the women’s side are more interesting than ever, with more bracket-breaking weapons in their arsenals. Today we’re breaking down which of those teams has the highest chance to beat an overdog in Friday’s first-round games.

As on the men’s side, our statistical model Slingshot, developed with help from the Furman University Mathematics Department, begins by estimating the strength of all D-I teams according to their scoring margin per 100 possessions, adjusted for strength of schedule. We then adjust those basic power ratings for how strongly teams carry traits associated with successful tournament teams of the past.

For underdogs, these characteristics generally include factors that widen the variability of a team’s play, such as shooting lots of threes and working to force turnovers. For favorites, it’s just the opposite: higher seeds cruise to wins when they cut risks and avoid chaos. Then we estimate matchup results.

Before we continue, two observations and one caveat. First, as we’ve mentioned, while parity is increasing in the women’s game, and there are more viable contenders for the…

After a season full of historic performances, thrilling finishes and record-breaking television viewership, the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament field is set. Undefeated South Carolina is the top seed, with Iowa, USC and Texas the three other programs on the No. 1 line.

All four have their sights set on Cleveland, the site of this year’s Final Four, but they aren’t alone in being potential contenders. Before the first round begins Tuesday night, here’s a look at everything you need to know to help with your bracket and prepare you for the tournament.

How good are the No. 1 seeds?

This year’s crop of No. 1 seeds features some of the best coaches and players in the country.

South Carolina (32-0)

Albany 1 Region

The Gamecocks’ roster turned over in the offseason, with its famed “Freshies” core (led by star center Aliyah Boston) graduating and moving to the pro ranks. This year’s squad has an entirely new starting lineup from the group that was undefeated heading into last year’s NCAA Tournament. Still, the 2024 SEC champions had the nation’s best defense and the No. 2-rated offense in the regular season. Coach Dawn Staley, our unanimous Coach of the Year pick, leaned on South Carolina’s depth, with nine players averaging double-digit minutes. Take particular note…

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

For the first time in program history, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will make an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It’s Year 12 for coach Royce Chadwick, at his fourth Division I head coaching stop, adding a remarkable note to a career that’s spanned over 40 years.

This is what March is all about. Teams can change the course of history for their program with a hot run when everything clicks into place for a shining moment.

Peeling back the curtains to the game, Lamar — Corpus Cristi’s opponent —- was coming off its best season since 2019 and looked on the brink of making its first NCAA Tournament in over a decade. It had won the Southland regular-season title, beating Corpus Christi twice in the regular season. Aqua Franklin has steadily built this program up, culminating in a breakout Year 5.

This, unfortunately, is also March.

One ball bounce or slip in focus can be the difference between the Big Dance and the end. It’s apt to remember that, because on one side, the games produce cheers and unforgettable memories, and the other side lacks the same picturesque quality.

---

Mid-majors

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

For the first, and likely not the last, time this week, the bubble has burst. The Portland Pilots are going dancing, securing the automatic qualifying bid by winning the West Coast Conference tournament. Portland was solid this season, finishing a respectable third in the conference behind Santa Clara and Gonzaga.

Gonzaga had been projected in the field and looked like a lock to host for much of the season, with a stellar nonconference run and dominance in the WCC. The Zags beat Portland by 21 the first time they met and defeated Portland 90-40 just two weeks ago. Now Portland walks out with a trip to March Madness with a 1-point victory over the Bulldogs.

This is what March is all about. Everything we think we know can change in an instant.

Multi-bid conference

What does…

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

Just under two weeks away now from Selection Sunday, the number of locks in the NCAA Tournament field is steadily increasing and the number of at-large bids available is dwindling. That makes the conference tournaments all the more enticing, as every team on the bubble, fighting for hosting position or looking to maintain top billing is ready to duel it out on a neutral court.

Can your team pad its resume? Will it claw its way into higher seeding? Who has the most to gain or lose in the waning hours leading up to the eventual bracket reveal? Let’s take a look.

---

ACC

Movement

Duke and Florida State locked themselves into the field after opening…

Filling out the women’s NCAA Tournament bracket is fun, sure. But with betting lines included, the stakes are raised and it’s a whole other ballgame — even if you’re sure of the winner, you can still pick against the spread. Last year, I had a hard time finding lines for the women’s tournament. This year, the information was much more available. I took all info into account — stats, schedules, personnel matchups, strengths and weaknesses — as I began the arduous task of analyzing each pick and selecting game winners. (And I reminded myself, more than once, not to overthink it.)

If you’re unfamiliar with betting numbers, the general idea is you subtract whatever the number is from the score, and that should make it even. So “South Florida -1.5” means the Hurricanes should win by two against Marquette. The .5 allows you to pick a side, so there are no ties. In short, the team with the “-” number next to it is giving the other team that much of a lead in this figurative world. If “PK” is listed, it means the teams are rated even strength and it’s a straight win or loss pick.

My picks for the first round are based against the spread, not straight-up winners. Check back, as I’ll have subsequent picks for every round of the tournament.

Friday

No. 9…