2024 Women's March Madness: Here's the path to the Final Four for NC State, UNC and Duke
Posted March 20, 2024 4:07 p.m. EDT
Updated March 22, 2024 2:17 p.m. EDT
All three women’s college basketball teams in the Triangle – NC State, North Carolina and Duke – made the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Here’s a look at how each team could make the 2024 Final Four.
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Portland 4 region: No. 3 seed NC State’s path to the Final Four
NC State (27-6) will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack will host No. 14 seed Chattanooga (28-4) at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. The game airs on ESPNU. Tickets are sold out for Saturday's game, but are available on third-party sites.
NC State lost to Notre Dame 55-51 in the ACC Tournament championship.
Not counting the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament, head coach Wes Moore’s program is making its seventh consecutive tournament appearance. The furthest Moore’s program made it was to the Elite Eight in 2022.
Chattanooga won the Southern Conference championship game 69-60 on March 10 against UNC Greensboro. The Mocs enter the NCAA Tournament on a five-game winning streak.
The winner of the NC State-Chattanooga game will take on the winner of the game between sixth-seeded Tennessee and 11th-seeded Green Bay. The second-round game is set for Monday.
If the Wolfpack advance to the Sweet 16, they’d play on March 29. Here are some of the opponents they could play: No. 2 seed Stanford, No. 7 seed Iowa State, No. 10 seed Maryland or No. 15 seed Norfolk State.
If NC State advances to the Elite Eight on March 31, here are its possible opponents: No. 1 seed Texas, No. 4 seed Gonzaga, No. 5 seed Utah, No. 8 seed Alabama, No. 9 seed Florida State, No. 12 seed South Dakota State, No. 13 seed UC Irvine or No. 16 seed Drexel.
NC State last made the Final Four in 1998 when Kay Yow was the head coach.
Albany 1 region: No. 8 seed North Carolina’s path to the Final Four
North Carolina takes on Michigan State at 11:30 a.m. ET Friday in Columbia, South Carolina. The game airs on ESPN2.
If North Carolina (19-12) can win its first-round game on Friday against Michigan State (22-8), the Tar Heels will likely play No. 1 overall seed South Carolina (32-0) in the second round on Sunday.
It marks the fourth year in a row North Carolina has made the NCAA Tournament under head coach Courtney Banhart. It also marks the Tar Heels’ 31st appearance overall.
The Gamecocks play 16-seed Presbyterian.
It marks the third straight NCAA Tournament overall No. 1 seed for coach Dawn Staley’s team. Staley earned National Coach of the Year honors from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
South Carolina won against LSU in the SEC Championship game, but a benches-clearing brawl defined the game. It led to multiple player ejections.
South Carolina seniors Kamilla Cardoso and Te-Hina Paopao earned All-America honors from the Associated Press.
The Gamecocks have won two national championships (2017 and 2022).
If the Tar Heels upset the Gamecocks, they would play No. 4 seed Indiana, No. 5 seed Oklahoma, No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast University or No. 13 seed Fairfield in the Sweet 16. The Sweet 16 is scheduled for March 29.
In the Elite Eight, here are the possible opponents North Carolina could play on March 31 if the team advances that far: No. 2 seed Notre Dame, No. 3 seed Oklahoma State, No. 6 seed Nebraska, No. 7 seed Ole Miss, No. 10 seed Marquette, No. 11 seed Texas A&M, No. 14 seed Eastern Washington or No. 15 seed Kent State.
UNC has made three Final Four appearances: 1994, 2006 and 2007. The Tar Heels won the national championship in 1994.
Portland 3 region: No. 7 seed Duke’s path to the Final Four
No. 7 seed Duke (20-11) plays No. 10 seed Richmond (29-5) at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio. The game airs on ESPNews.
It marks Duke head coach Kara Lawson’s second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
The winner between Duke-Richmond will play the winner of the game between No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 15 seed Maine. The second-round game is set for Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.
If the Blue Devils advance to the Sweet 16, they’d play on March 30 against one of the following teams: No. 3 seed UConn, No. 6 seed Syracuse, No. 11 seed Arizona, No. 11 seed Auburn or No. 14 seed Jackson State
In they Blue Devils made it to the Elite Eight on April 1, they’d play one of the following teams: No. 1 seed USC, No. 5 seed Baylor, No. 8 seed Kansas, No. 9 Michigan, No. 12 seed Vanderbilt, No. 12 seed Columbia, No. 13 seed Marshall or No. 16 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Duke has made four Final Four appearances: 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2006. The Blue Devils were tournament runners-up in 1999 and 2006.
