The Athletic has live coverage of Selection Sunday and the Women’s NCAA Tournament bracket reveal

The final full day of conference tournaments has come and gone, and wow, what a jam-packed slate. We ultimately came away without any upsets that would put a potential at-large bid in question, but we witnessed some great games and competition.

For the first time since 2002, Kent State is headed to the NCAA Tournament. California Baptist, in Year 6 as a Division I program, earned its first ticket to the Big Dance. Norfolk State matched last season’s win total and tied its program DI record with 26 wins this season after punching its ticket to the tournament as well, back for a second straight year. Fairfield won its 31st game of the season, outlasting Niagara in one of the most frenetic games of the past few weeks to secure its trip to March Madness.

Get your women’s March Madness printable bracket

In the most anticipated game of the day, Princeton won the Ivy League championship comfortably, likely denying the possibility of the Ivy as a two-bid conference.

So on Selection Sunday, as we dive into our final Bracket Watch, a quick thank you for following along. We have a wealth of tournament coverage coming as the brackets are revealed (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) on the selection show. You…

More than a half-dozen conference tournaments have already started, meaning the first bids for the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament are just days from being claimed. As the action progresses and weekday gameplay turns into weekend competition and spots in the field of 68 are solidified, The Athletic will deliver a daily briefing to update you on the most important results.

We’ll bring you games to watch and analysis of key results, anecdotes from tournament sites and everything you need to know. Check back for updates from Thursday’s action. If there are things you, the reader, want to see during conference tournaments or as NCAA Tournament play begins, please let us know in the comments.

Keep a close eye on …

As conference tournament play continues, pay particular attention to what’s happening in the Pac-12 and Atlantic 10. Last March, seventh-seed Washington State ran off four consecutive wins to claim the school’s first conference title. The Cougars’ run was undoubtedly a surprise. But it wouldn’t be shocking to see Colorado or Utah, two programs that won their conference tournament openers Wednesday, go on similar runs and win four straight — though doing so would involve upset victories Thursday.

Pac-12 high stakes

Five Pac-12 schools ranked in the AP top five…

(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.)

Coming into this season, I was excited to watch a multitude of storylines play out, but none more so than wondering what USC’s season would look like. Last year, the plucky Trojans made their first NCAA Tournament in nearly a decade and put together a stifling defensive squad in coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s second season. But after top-ranked recruit JuJu Watkins committed in November 2022, all I could think about while watching USC was what it meant for 2024 when she’d be playing for them.

For anyone aware of Watkins’ game and potential, it was clear she would have a significant impact right away — and the proof is on display this season in Los Angeles.

Watkins has rightfully commanded the majority of storylines coming out of Galen Center, but it’s time to change the tune with respect to the Trojans. This isn’t just a program on the rise. USC has shown it has what it takes to make a Final Four run and is even one of a handful of teams that have what it takes to win the national championship.

Watkins leads the way, one of the brightest stars in the sport, a likely All-American and…

(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.)

Power conferences understandably dominate discussion, particularly Bubble Watch talk, this time of year. All the teams fighting in the middle, yearning for resume-supplementing wins, provide some of the most notable matchups and storylines.

However, it’s worth pausing and noting some of the more under-the-radar seasons in the country, especially the programs that we are trending toward hearing about in March. I can think of few teams more deserving of that mention than Marshall.

The Thundering Herd are 20-6, a standout record on its own but even more notable when recognizing this is the first time since the 2016 season they have eclipsed the 20-win mark and just the second time since they left the Southern Conference in 1997. This is West Virginia native Kim Caldwell’s first season at the helm in Huntington. She led her alma mater, DII Glenville State, for seven seasons, including a national championship in 2022. In her first foray as a head coach at the highest level of collegiate basketball, something special is brewing.

Find it your local newspaper #WeAreMarshall