Women's college basketball season predictions: Experts make picks for Final Four, national champ and NPOY

Can South Carolina win it all? Will JuJu Watkins lead USC to the Final Four? We A new college basketball season has arrived. The 2026-27 women's basketball campaign kicked off Sunday as Notre Dame took down Villanova in Rome. Most teams, though, are getting their seasons started on Monday and Tuesday. JuJu Watkins is back, UCLA enters as defending champs and South Carolina comes into the season as the nation's No. 1 team. So what should we expect this season? We're predicting the 2027 Final Four, the national champion and the National Player of the Year below. Gibbs: I know that there are no sure things in college sports anymore, but UConn and South Carolina making it to the Final Four is about as close as it gets.

Both teams lost some key pieces last year – most notably Azzi Fudd and Raven Johnson to the WNBA – but are still incredibly stacked. UConn has the returning national player of the year, Sarah Strong, as well as veteran players like KK Arnold, Jana El Elfy and Ashlynn Shade. The Huskies are also adding Olivia Vukosa, the No. 2 player in the class per ESPN, and have sophomore Blanca Quiñonez back and ready to take on a bigger role. There are a few more questions for USC, but mainly because the