In the women’s NCAA tournament, No. 1 seeds usually reign supreme. In the first 39 years of the event, 87 of the 156 (55.7%) top seeds have made the Final Four, with at least two No. 1s reaching the third weekend in 33 of the 39 competitions. Still, with an expanded field and increased parity across the sport, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking to see a number of other teams crash the party in Minneapolis.
The list below includes eight teams that could—to varying degrees—make a deep run in March and find their way to the Final Four. Some of the sleeper selections are more realistic, while others would make for true Cinderella stories. (Note: No. 2 seeds were also removed from this exercise because picking any one of them isn’t exactly a huge surprise.)
