Why ESPN says Notre Dame is one of 10 teams that can win a national title
ESPN women’s basketball analyst Michael Voepel released a list of 10 teams that can win the 2024 national championship on Tuesday. Notre Dame was the fourth program he mentioned.
“The Irish didn’t have injured guard Olivia Miles this season, and freshman Hannah Hidalgo had to learn on the fly. But it has worked for them,” Voepel wrote. “Hidalgo would be the national freshman of the year if it weren’t for USC’s [JuJu] Watkins.
“The Irish’s ACC tournament victories were all against different types of teams: In those three games, Notre Dame scored 77, 82 and 55 points. The Irish have won eight in a row, and even though they were the No. 4 seed in the ACC tournament, they played like the No. 1 seed.”
It seems impossible for Notre Dame (26-6) fans to believe considering all Hidalgo has accomplished this season — unfathomable season-long averages of 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game — but Watkins, as Voepel alluded to, is likely going to win national freshman of the year honors.
Watkins plays for a team that’s likely going to earn a better seed than Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament, and she did the unthinkable by scoring 51 points in a game against then-No. 4 Stanford in early February. Not even Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has hit the 50-point threshold in her illustrious career.
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Still, Hidalgo is the reason Notre Dame is on Voepel’s 10-team list with USC, Iowa and others. She willed the Irish to a 55-51 victory over NC State in the ACC Tournament championship game by scoring five of the Irish’s final six points in the closing minutes.
With Hidalgo playing like one of the best players in the country — it might be her, Clark and Watkins in the top three regardless of what conference player of the year nods say; the ACC’s went to Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley for the third season in a row — Notre Dame has a chance to keep advancing in March.
It’s South Carolina and everyone else, but the Gamecocks showed signs of mortality in the SEC Tournament. They were a second away from losing for the first time this season if not for the first three-point basket of center Kamilla Cardoso‘s career in a one-point semifinal win over Tennessee.
It’s March. Anything can happen. But when the tournament field condenses as the rounds go by, there are always only a select few teams capable of being the last one standing. Notre Dame should feel good it’s one of those in the eyes of Voepel.
ESPN’s Michael Voepel’s 10 teams that can win the 2024 national title
- South Carolina
- Iowa
- LSU
- USC
- Notre Dame
- UConn
- Stanford
- UCLA
- Ohio State
- Texas
