Michigan, TCU , Notre Dame, and Duke University all have very, very talented teams. They now can claim that they unofficially finished up in a tie 👔 for fifth place as the Big Four head to the desert 🏜.

12,18, 26, and 36 points margin of victories over the last two nights show you that as good as the quartet was this season, there is still a sizable gap between the first four and the second four.

Michigan steamrolled both NC State and Louisville on their way to the Elite Eight, yet they simply had no chance against Texas.

TCU received a gift 🎁 from the University of Virginia when the Hoos removed Iowa from its path, and for three quarters tonight, it stayed on the court with South Carolina. But the game lasts 40 minutes, and Dawn Staley is excellent at pushing buttons.

That leaves the two ACC schools, both of which managed to stay within 20 points against two #1 seeds. Duke actually led UCLA by 10 points in the first half before their short rotation wore out against a powerful Bruins team. Hannah Hidalgo once again put on a show, enough that Coach Geno took the time to praise the Notre Dame guard in his post game presser.

For just the second time in the history of the women’s tournament, we have the same four teams returning to the Promise Land. There was never any real doubt about it playing out this way, and the Hoops next weekend should be electrifying.

92 points ÷ 4 = 23 points was the average margin of victory over four teams that made it to the edge of the Final Four.

The game is healthy right now and getting stronger by the day. Two from the SEC, two others with one being undefeated and a second one with just one loss against a fellow #1.

Texas is 34 – 3, with the setbacks coming at the hands of South Carolina, LSU, and Vanderbilt. The same Vandy team that our Alyssa Ervin dropped 16 points on back in November.

South Carolina is 34 – 3 with losses versus Texas (twice ) and Oklahoma.

UCLA (35-1) with the lone loss against Texas in the Las Vegas event on Thanksgiving weekend.

Geno and UConn is 38 – 0, making the fearsome foursome a combined 141-7 with four of the seven setbacks coming against each other !

LSU, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt University were the only three teams to best this group in 144 games.

The tournament has been fun, but the true challenge begins on Friday night in Phoenix.

Being that Duke University fell by the smallest margin,  can we say, “Fifth place, ?”

On a serious note 📝, the biggest winner up to this point has to be Virginia. After being on the bubble 🫧 and one of the last teams in, the Cavaliers went to Iowa and won three straight games, with the third one disappointing 15,000 fans.

Did I mention that Carroll County graduate 🎓, Alyssa Ervin played at Vanderbilt and scored 16 points that night 🌙 ?