Overlooked teams in women's NCAA Tournament best positioned to make Final Four

All four No. 1 seeds remain as the women's Sweet 16 is set to tip off on Friday.

With each of the top three seeds, as well as one four-seed and three five-seeds still dancing, the lack of upsets has presented some intriguing and compelling matchups.

Although the one-seeds will garner most of the attention, and rightfully so, here are three teams not on the one-line that are best positioned for a Final Four run.

No. 2 seed UConn

The two-seed Huskies look like one of the most complete teams in the entire country. Their offense (81.7 PPG) is ninth in the country while their defense (51.5 PPG) leads Division I. UConn also possesses the best NET ranking and is as healthy as it has been in a while with seniors Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers each overcoming torn ACLs, among other serious injuries.

UConn's Sweet 16 opponent, three-seed Oklahoma, has a NET ranking of 13 and has been led all season by junior Raegan Beers (17.5 PPG, 9.3 RPG). As good as the Sooners have been, their inability to take care of the ball (18.7 turnovers per game, 320th in the country) is concerning and will not cut it against a balanced UConn team.

Advancing to the Final Four out of the Spokane 4 regional will be a lot more manageable for the Huskies due to USC star JuJu Watkins suffering a torn right ACL in the Trojans' Round of 32 win over nine-seed Mississippi State on Monday night. Regardless of the result in the USC-Kansas State matchup on Saturday, UConn has to like its chances of reaching another Final Four.

No. 3 seed Notre Dame

While some may have written off the Fighting Irish after losing three of their last five games entering the NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame has blitzed its way through the first two rounds with both wins by 21 or more points.

Its Sweet 16 opponent, two-seed TCU, brings in a NET ranking of eight, as well as the 10th-best field goal percentage (47.93%). It will take that and then some for TCU to keep up with Notre Dame and star sophomore Hannah Hidalgo (24.1 PPG).

A potential Elite Eight meeting awaits between the winner of Texas-Tennessee. If chalk holds, the Longhorns could present a challenge defensively as they have not allowed an opponent to top 70 points since the Volunteers did so on Jan. 23. That could slow Notre Dame down, but if things keep clicking for the Fighting Irish, that still may not be enough.

No. 3 seed LSU

Although the Tigers entered the NCAA Tournament with three losses in a four-game span, they appear to be fully healthy and ready to make a Final Four push. They have also topped 100 points in each of their tournament games so far and average 85.5 points per game, good for fourth in the country.

The two-seed NC State is no walk in the park, given the Wolfpack just hit an NCAA Tournament program-record 15 threes in their second-round win over seven-seed Michigan State. NC State will need more of that if it is going to keep pace with the Tigers.

If everything goes as expected, the top-seeded UCLA Bruins would await in the Elite Eight. That could turn into a rebounding battle, as both teams rank inside the top five at crashing the boards. It is certainly not an easy path, but LSU is more than capable of reaching its second Final Four under head coach Kim Mulkey.