If Caitlin Clark leaves Iowa with a nationwide title, she’ll have earned each little bit of it.
The NCAA Match choice committee did Clark and the Hawkeyes no favors within the ladies’s bracket that was launched Sunday evening. Positive, they’re a No. 1 seed, as anticipated. They’ll host the primary and second rounds at Carver-Hawkeye Area, the place they’ve misplaced all of two video games previously two seasons. They’re within the Albany regional, which is a neater journey for his or her diehard followers than the opposite regional in Portland, Oregon.
However the precise video games? Woof.
There’s a possible Candy 16 matchup with Kansas State, which Iowa has already performed twice this season, dropping at house and successful on a impartial courtroom. A rematch of final yr’s nationwide title sport towards LSU looms within the regional remaining. If it’s not Angel Reese and the Tigers, then it seemingly might be second-seeded UCLA, which is battle examined after the bruising Pac-12 season.
And that’s all earlier than the Last 4!
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If Clark and the Hawkeyes make it to Cleveland, Southern Cal and freshman phenom JuJu Watkins seemingly would await. Earn a spot within the title sport, and there’s a superb probability their opponent can be general No. 1 seed South Carolina, which might be itching for some payback after Clark steamrolled the Gamecocks within the Last 4 final yr.
So yeah, have enjoyable with that.
“They’ve received the toughest highway for my part. That is the toughest highway,” ESPN analyst Andraya Carter mentioned throughout the choice present as Rebecca Lobo agreed.
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This not less than solutions the query of whether or not the committee performs favorites. If it did, the committee would have made positive Clark and Iowa had a straight shot to Cleveland — and I don’t imply through Interstates 80 and 90.
“We’re not attempting to get sure matchups or something like that,” Lisa Peterson, chair of the choice committee, mentioned after the bracket was launched. “I do know what it seems like now, however once we’re in there, we don’t see them that manner. We’re simply placing them in quantity order.”
Actually, nobody would have blamed the committee if it had tried to present Clark and Iowa a neater highway.
Clark has been probably the most thrilling participant in all of school basketball this season. She captivated hoop heads and informal followers alike together with her assault on the document books, they usually’ve continued to stay round to see what else she will pull off. Her final 4 video games drew greater than 1,000,000 viewers every, with the regular-season finale the place she handed Pete Maravich to turn out to be school basketball’s all-time main scorer and the Large Ten event title sport each averaging greater than 3 million viewers.
Celebrities need to see her, little children need to be her. Why wouldn’t the committee need to hold that going so long as it might?
As a result of it couldn’t, to begin with. High-four seeds from the identical convention must be in numerous brackets, and the Pac-12 skewed issues with having 4 of them: No. 1-seeded Southern California; No. 2-seeded UCLA and Stanford; three-seeded Oregon State. That was a big think about how the committee match all these jigsaw items collectively to make the bracket.
However extra to the purpose, the ladies’s sport doesn’t want propping up. Clark is a licensed supernova, however there’s a lot compelling concerning the sport past her.
There are storylines and stars galore all through this yr’s subject. South Carolina is attempting — once more — to finish an undefeated season. There’s Era Subsequent, with Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, South Carolina’s Milaysia Fulwiley and Texas’ Madison Booker becoming a member of Watkins as freshman phenoms. UConn and Paige Bueckers have been underneath the radar due to accidents and inconsistency, however they blitzed their manner via the Large East event.
And don’t neglect the strolling cleaning soap opera that’s Kim Mulkey and her LSU squad.
Sure, the thrill across the event might be muted a bit if Clark and Iowa aren’t in Cleveland. However there’s a very easy manner round that. Clark and Iowa are simply going to must win.
It’s largely forgotten now, however few gave the Hawkeyes an opportunity final yr towards South Carolina. The Gamecocks introduced a 42-game successful streak into the Last 4 matchup, with all however a handful gained by double digits. South Carolina was larger and extra skilled, having gained the nationwide title the earlier season.
Clark wasn’t fazed within the least. She dropped 41 factors on South Carolina and in addition had eight assists. Of Iowa’s 28 subject objectives, she scored or assisted on all however 5 of them. She performed 38 minutes, regardless of selecting up her second foul with 8:17 left within the second quarter. Anytime South Carolina tried to tug away, Clark made a monster play to reel the Gamecocks again in.
Iowa additionally wasn’t the favourite within the Large Ten event this month, having completed second within the common season to Ohio State. However within the remaining towards Nebraska, a workforce that had crushed Iowa a month earlier, Clark chased the Cornhuskers down virtually single-handedly to drive time beyond regulation, and Iowa rolled from there to its third consecutive event title.
She’s received ice in her veins, that one, and the larger the stakes, the higher Clark performs. She’ll must once more within the NCAA Match as a result of Iowa’s path to the title is not simple. It is something however.
E-mail Nancy Armour at narmour@usatoday.com or comply with her on social media @nrarmour