playCharlie CremeOct 13, 2026, 08:30 AM ETCloseCharlie Creme projects the women’s NCAA tournament bracket for ESPN.com.Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsWomen’s college basketball is back — and so is JuJu Watkins. Her return after sitting out all of last season is the biggest story in the country as college hoops teams hit the hardwood for 2026-27.Watkins suffered a torn ACL in March 2025 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The national player of the year that season, Watkins guided the USC Trojans to a No. 1 seed. They reached the Elite Eight before being eliminated.
Without her last season, USC won 18 games, finished in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten and reached the NCAA tournament’s second round as a No. 9 seed.With Watkins back, USC is again a national championship contender. But there are questions, of course. Most of the roster has turned over since Watkins last played. With the exception of classmate Kennedy Smith, Watkins hasn’t played an official game with any teammates in coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s expected rotation.USC is not alone.
Every team in ESPN’s preseason top 25 faces questions as the race to the Final Four appears more wide open than it was a season ago.We answer the most important question for every team ahead of the season tipping off Nov. 1.1. South Carolina GamecocksWill a point guard emerge?Coach Dawn Staley, one of the sports’ all-time greatest point guards, doesn’t have a true point guard to start the season. In August, junior Maddy McDaniel announced she was withdrawing from the university to focus on her mental health. The move leaves a hole in an otherwise loaded roster.
McDaniel was expected to assume the role that Raven Johnson filled so well for four years. Tessa Johnson can handle some of the ballhandling duties, but it diminishes her value as a wing shooter and penetrator. Agot Makeer and Texas transfer Jordan Lee can also help, but neither is a facilitator. The late transfer addition of Michigan’s Brooke Quarles-Daniels, who was granted a fifth year of eligibility, adds depth, but while she’s a high-level defender, she’s also not a true lead guard.Expect South Carolina’s offense to look unconventional at times and run through Joyce Edwards in the high post.
Edwards has emerged as one of the five or six best players in the country, and that approach might work well for the Gamecocks, who get forward Chloe Kitts back after she missed last season because of a torn ACL suffered in October 2025.Projected starting lineupTessa Johnson (12.8 PPG) Joyce Edwards (19.2 PPG) Jordan Lee (13.2 PPG at Texas) Chloe Kitts (10.2 PPG in 2024-25) Agot Makeer (7.3 PPG)2. UConn HuskiesIs Blanca Quinonez the next UConn star?The sophomore forward’s talent is eye-popping. She draws attention whenever she’s on the court. Her 18 points against Ohio State in her second college game and her 20 points and eight rebounds in the Elite Eight against Notre Dame are just two examples of what Quinonez is capable of doing.
There were also bad turnovers, mental lapses and inconsistent attention to detail. If Quinonez learns from her freshman season and leans in to her ability, UConn won’t miss Azzi Fudd nearly as much — and Sarah Strong, 2026’s consensus national player of the year, will have a potential All-American as a running mate. The Huskies’ depth is once again a strength, but a peak Quinonez gives them some needed star power.Projected starting lineupSarah Strong (18.4 PPG) KK Arnold (6.9 PPG) Ashlynn Shade (7.6 PPG) Blanca Quinonez (10.7 PPG) Jana El Alfy (4.0 PPG)3. USC TrojansHow will all the pieces fit?From the moment USC tips off the season in Las Vegas against UNLV on Nov. 2, how Lindsay Gottlieb uses all the talent she has accumulated will be analyzed and dissected.
JuJu Watkins is back and once again on the short list of national player of the year candidates. But the USC team she is coming back to is much different than the one she left. Only three teammates remain. She has never played with fellow No. 1 recruits Jazzy Davidson (2025) and Saniyah Hall (2026), two players with a similar skill set as Watkins.
Davidson, who led the Trojans in points, rebounds and assists last season in Watkins’ absence, might play more of a point guard role. Kennedy Smith also could have a role change with the addition of Hall and Sara Okeke, the No. 5-rated recruit. Pania Davis, a 6-foot-6 senior center and transfer from Florida State, will also have to find her place in the rotation. The chemistry should look much different in March than it does in November.Projected starting lineupJuJu Watkins (23.9 in 2024-25) Jazzy Davidson (17.9 PPG) Kennedy Smith (11.5 PPG) Saniyah Hall (No. 1 in SC Next 100) Pania Davis (7.7 PPG at Florida State)4.
Duke Blue DevilsWhat will Emilee Skinner’s impact be after a lost season?The No. 4 recruit in 2025, Skinner was supposed to be a major contributor last year, but a lower body injury forced her to miss all but three games. With Taina Mair now in the WNBA, coach Kara Lawson needs a point guard to direct a talented roster led by Toby Fournier, Delaney Thomas and Texas transfer Aaliyah Crump. Skinner’s court vision and size should fit well into Lawson’s schemes offensively and defensively, and she was also a 2,000-point scorer in high school in Utah. Her ability to take the reins from Mair and stay healthy might be the key to Duke reaching its first Final Four since 2003.Projected starting lineupToby Fournier (17.3 PPG) Delaney Thomas (11.0 PPG) Riley Nelson (9.4 PPG) Emilee Skinner (4.3 PPG) Aaliyah Crump (7.9 PPG at Texas)5.
Michigan WolverinesWill Courtney Ogden be the difference maker?Kim Barnes-Arico’s 2024 recruiting class of Olivia Olson, Syla Swords, Mila Holloway and Te’Yala Delfosse has lived up to expectations, delivering the program’s first Elite Eight appearance as sophomores. But the blowout loss to Texas illustrated that the Wolverines needed something else to take that next step. Ogden could be that player after having a significant increase in production from her sophomore to junior seasons (5.9 PPG to 12.9 PPG, with 51.3% field goal shooting) at Stanford. One more experienced scorer to take some pressure off Olson might be the missing piece to a Final Four appearance.Projected starting lineupOlivia Olson (18.9 PPG) Syla Swords (14.6 PPG) Mia Holloway (12.3 PPG) Ashley Sofilkanich (7.7 PPG) Courtney Ogden (12.9 PPG at Stanford)6.
Louisville CardinalsWill the Cardinals have a breakout star?Louisville won 29 games last season without a player averaging more than 11.5 points per game. Three of those starters are back, plus top reserve Imari Berry (10.9 PPG). Jeff Walz also added Zamareya Jones (NC State), Carys Baker (Virginia Tech) and Deniya Prawl (Tennessee) from the portal. As versatile and interchangeable as the Cardinals were in 2025-26, they might be more so this season.
And Jones could be that star. She broke out as a sophomore at NC State, doubling her scoring average from her rookie campaign. Pairing Jones with Taj Roberts gives Walz an explosive backcourt.Projected starting lineupTajianna Roberts (11.5 PPG) Elif Istanbulluoglu (10.1 PPG) Zamareya Jones (14.9 PPG at NC State) Mackenly Randolph (8.5 PPG) Carys Baker (14.3 PPG at Virginia Tech)7. Iowa HawkeyesCan Dani Carnegie make the same impact at Iowa that she made at Georgia?Georgia was an afterthought in the SEC heading into last season, picked to finish 12th.
The Lady Bulldogs finished sixth, won 22 games and made the NCAA tournament. Most of that was on the shoulders of Carnegie. Now on her third team in three years, she is surrounded by the most talent in her career, and her decision to join Iowa propelled the Hawkeyes into the top 10. She appears to be the ideal fit for a team that wants to play fast but needed a lead guard to make it all work.
With Chazadi Wright as a running mate and Ava Heiden in the post, Carnegie should lead Iowa to some big offensive numbers.Projected starting lineupAva Heiden (18.0 PPG) Chazadi Wri
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