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The 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament is here, and the field of 64 will be cut in half with 1st-round games Friday and Saturday as the top 16 seeds will host games during opening weekend.
You might have already filled out your brackets, but USA TODAY has another unique NCAA Tournament contest in which you can win $2,500.
Can you survive? USA TODAY Sports’ Men and Women’s Basketball Tournament Survivor Pools are here with a $2,500 prize for each contest! Free to enter, 21+. Terms apply, void where prohibited by law. See Official Rules. Play now!
As an employee, I’m not eligible to win, but there’s no rule against me helping you win $2.5K.
Here is my strategy of how to win the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament Survivor Pool.
Each round, you’ll pick a set number of teams. For the 1st round, you have to pick 3 teams to simply win their games — no spread involved. If one of your teams loses, you’re eliminated. However, once you select a team, similar to an NFL survivor pool, you can’t use that team again.
In the 2nd round, you must pick 2 teams to win outright. After that, you have to pick 1 team per round — in the Sweet 16, the Elite 8, the Final Four and the championship game.
Another tricky rule is that you earn points based on the seed number of your winning team. Successfully pick a No. 12 seed to knock off a 5 seed, and you get 12 points. Pick a No. 1 seed and you only get 1 point if it wins.
Starting with the 1st round, I’m not going to worry about points. My goal is to survive and advance. There are often too many upsets and I’m not going to take that risk of getting knocked out on Day 1.
Let’s treat this as a short marathon, not a 60-yard dash. We’ll earn our points in the later rounds.
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First-round picks
PICK 1: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (24-7)
Who they play: Marshall Thundering Herd (26-6)
When: Friday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Va.
The 4th-seeded Hokies are a strong play on their home court against the 13th-seeded Thundering Herd.
Virginia Tech, No. 12 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, won all 15 games on its home court this season, while Marshall posted a 12-5 road mark. The Sun Belt representative will be facing its 2nd ACC team this season. Back on Dec. 21, Marshall suffered a 66-59 loss at Wake Forest, and you can expect a double-digit loss in this one.
The Thundering Herd has a 3 tremendous offensive weapons with guards Abby Beeman (16.8 points per game), Breanna Campbell (15.0 PPG) and Aislynn Hayes (14.8 PPG). The trio can hang with most anybody. Plus, Marshall creates plenty of offensive boards to get 2nd and 3rd opportunities on offense. However, the Herd are pretty poor in the free-throw department — ranking 301st at 67.1%, per NCAA.com — and in close games, it can be their undoing.
Virginia Tech is an elite team led by C Elizabeth Kitley (22.8 PPG, 11.4 RPG) and G Georgia Amoore (19.2 PPG, 6.9 APG). They are one of the best one-two punches in the nation. Kitley missed the ACC Tournament due to a left knee injury, so that’s a bit of a concern heading into the Big Dance. But this team ranks 17th in assist-to-turnover rate (1.33) and 9th in blocks (5.5 per game) in playing suffocating defense. If it is down Kitley, the Hokies are still the play.
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PICK 2: COLORADO BUFFALOES (22-9)
Who they play: Drake Bulldogs (29-5)
When: Friday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNews)
Where: Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kan.
This is a dangerous matchup for the Buffaloes as this might seem like a road game as the Bulldogs faithful should travel well since it’s a short jaunt from Des Moines to Kansas.
Drake can score at a feverish pace, with G Katie Dinnebier (17.9 PPG), F Grace Berg (17.0 PPG) and F Anna Miller (13.6 PPG, 10.1 RPG) serving as a talented 3-headed offensive monster. The Bulldogs feature one of the best field-goal percentages at 48.7%, ranking 7th in the nation. Plus, they are good free-throw shooting team (77.4% to rank 24th), which is good news in close games.
Colorado is ranked No. 17 in the Coaches Poll, yet scored just a No. 5 seed, which seems criminally low. The Buffaloes roared into the season with an opening 92-78 win over defending national champ LSU on a neutral floor in Las Vegas, announcing to everyone their arrival. They also scored wins over ranked teams Stanford, No. 1 seed USC and Utah.
The Buffs can score, especially C Aaronette Vonleh (14.1 PPG) — the younger sister of former NBA player and Indiana Hoosiers standout Noah Vonleh. CU struggles on free throws (72.8%, ranking 123rd), but it’s a good team taking care of the ball, while ranking highly in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.36, ranking 13th).
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PICK 3: NC STATE WOLFPACK (27-6)
Who they play: Chattanooga Mocs (28-4)
When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Where: Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, N.C.
The 14th-seed Mocs of the SoCon have to play this one on the home court of the 3rd-seeded Wolfpack, who are No. 11 in the Coaches Poll.
Chattanooga announced its arrival with a win over a ranked Mississippi State team back in early December, bolstering the team’s NCAA Tournament resume early. The Mocs ended up winning the SoCon regular season and the conference tournament to earn their Big Dance ticket.
The Mocs are led by G Jada Guinn (19.7 PPG) and F Raven Thompson (14.3 PPG) and this squad can be a dangerous shooting team, particularly behind the 3-point line where they converted 37.5% of their attempts to rank 9th in the country. However, expect a lack of size to be their undoing.
NC State is outstanding all around with G Aziaha James (15.8 PPG), G Saniya Rivers (12.4 PPG), F Mimi Collins (11.2 PPG) and G Madison Hayes (11.1 PPG) giving the Pack a very balanced attack. NC State doesn’t make a lot of silly miscues — only 13.3 turnovers per game — and will have a tremendous advantage with its size, particularly in the rebounding department. NC State also has a lockdown defense — holding opponents to 59.9 PPG — which will make it awfully tough for Chattanooga to get good looks offensively.
All right. Let’s get these 3 wins, rack up a few points and then make sure to check back before Round 2 for our next winning picks. Play now!
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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