Which women’s teams will make the most noise in Champ Week?

South Carolina controlled the No. 1 spot in the country from the second week of the season on, but the “everything else” this women’s college basketball season was a roller-coaster ride. The No. 2 spot changed hands eight times in the regular season. Multiple top-20 teams lost on a weekly basis.

The dust still hasn’t settled, setting up potentially one of the most exciting and meaningful Champ Weeks in a long time.

After the Gamecocks, the three remaining No. 1 seeds are still up for grabs. Stanford, Ohio State, UCLA, Iowa, Texas, USC and LSU are all candidates to stake a claim by winning their conference tournaments. The top-16 seeds — and the right to host first- and second-round NCAA tournament games — could go in any number of directions depending on what happens in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 tournaments.

A few mid-major leagues could have significant impact on the bubble, as will the SEC tournament. Each conference has its own must-know storylines, and these are the ones to play closest attention too, as well as the teams that might be on the court, as we draw closer to Selection Sunday and the NCAA tournament.

More coverage:
Bracketology | NCAA tournament schedule | Women’s Tournament Challenge

American Athletic Conference

Mean Green trying to finish the job: North Texas has already set a program record for wins in one of the best turnarounds in the country. That’s one season after winning just 11 games and finishing seventh in their final season in Conference USA. Now the goal is winning the AAC tournament and getting to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1986. To do it, the Mean Green will lean on the best frontcourt duo in the country. Senior Tommisha Lampkin leads the conference in field goal percentage and graduate DesiRay Kernal ranks in the AAC’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding and steals.

America East

Maine tries to complete the sweep at home: The last two times Maine went into the America East tournament as the No. 1 seed (2021 and 2022), the Black Bears came up short, losing championship games at home. After Saturday’s blowout win in Orono over the Albany Great Danes, Maine’s chief conference rival, the Black Bears earned the regular-season title and have another chance at hosting the tournament final as they try to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019. Junior Adrianna Smith (2023 winner) and senior Anne Simon (2022 winner) are the front-runners for conference player of the year.

ACC

Here come the Irish: Things tend to shift quickly in the competitive ACC. The foremost question in the league just a week ago was whether Virginia Tech could be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Then they lost twice to finish the regular season and the notion disappeared. One of those losses was to Notre Dame — and the buzz is suddenly about their upward…