The Post breaks down the women’s NCAA Tournament regions:
Albany 1
Can anyone stop undefeated South Carolina? Dawn Staley’s gold-standard program somehow got even better after graduating the entire starting five from last season’s Final Four team. There’s nothing in this region to remotely trouble the Gamecocks until the Elite Eight, where they can expect to face shorthanded No. 2 Notre Dame or No. 3 Oregon State, a stealth Pac-12 threat that will be awfully far from home.
Player to Watch
Hannah Hidalgo: The electric 5-foot-6 Notre Dame point guard, a New Jersey native, rapidly entered the inner circle of best players in the country as a freshman. She puts up 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and — get this — 4.6 steals per game.
Bracket Buster
No. 13 Fairfield: The Stags head to face No. 4 Indiana with a 31-1 record and the country’s fifth-ranked scoring defense. Fairfield has never won an NCAA Tournament game, going 0-5 in previous trips. The shoe fits. No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast also looks frisky.
The Post’s Pick
South Carolina: The Gamecocks still have the nation’s best defense, anchored by towering center Kamilla Cardoso. This season, with transfer Te-Hina Paopao, improved point guard Raven Johnson and highlight-reel freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley, they also can shoot the 3 and score in bunches, too.
Albany 2
No one can accuse the committee of making things easy for Caitlin Clark, the sport’s main attraction and TV ratings driver. There are dire threats for Iowa from the second round on out. No. 4 Kansas State, a potential Sweet 16 opponent, already beat the Hawkeyes once this season. Then it gets really interesting. No. 3 LSU, which throttled Iowa in last year’s indelible title game, could await in the Elite Eight. But first the Tigers would have to get past tenacious No. 2 UCLA.
Player to Watch
Angel Reese: It’s redundant to say Caitlin Clark here. You’re already watching her. Instead let’s go with Reese, the compelling frontwoman of LSU’s bid for back-to-back titles. Her numbers (19.0 points, 49.1 percent shooting, 13.1 rebounds) don’t jump off the page, but no one’s motor revs harder.
Bracket Buster
No. 9 Princeton: The four-loss Ivy League champs passed several tests on their non-conference slate. Carla Berube’s team plays tough defense, smart offense and has the kind of senior point guard you need pulling the strings in Kaitlyn Chen.
The Post’s Pick
UCLA: Surprise, surprise. The Bruins finished in second place in the best league in the country (Pac-12). They’re well-coached (Cori Close). And they’re deep enough to survive these two-game-in-three-days bursts, starting with senior leader Charisma Osborne, 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts and unflappable point guard Kiki Rice.
Portland 3
A star-studded region that rightfully could go chalk or descend into chaos. No. 1 USC risks relying so heavily on a star freshman, even one as talented as JuJu Watkins. No. 2 Ohio State went from ranked No. 2 in the country to losing its Big Ten Tournament opener. No. 3 UConn has talent and legacy — and a frightfully shallow rotation. No. 4 Virginia Tech faces questions about the health of star center Elizabeth Kitley.
Player to Watch
JuJu Watkins: The USC freshman phenom, who ranks second in the nation with 27 points per game, isn’t as efficient as Clark (the 6-foot-2 guard shoots 40.5 percent), but is as smooth a three-level scorer as we’ve seen in ages. She’s just getting started.
Bracket Buster
No. 7 Duke: Kara Lawson’s team hasn’t lost a game by more than eight points since mid-January. It won’t be pretty, but the Blue Devils are a lunch-pail outfit that will get rebounds, make free throws and grind out a game in the low 60s.
The Post’s Pick
UConn: It sounds silly to say about a team that traditionally has enjoyed so much of the limelight, but people are sleeping on the Huskies. They’re third in the nation in net rating, per Her Hoop Stats. Paige Bueckers is back better than ever, and she has a flair for big-game dramatics.
Portland 4
A segment of the bracket for the diehards. This is where the S-curve curves with the “worst” No. 1 seed in Texas and the “best” No. 2 in Stanford. A toss-up? With the inspired way the Longhorns played down the stretch, maybe not so much. Circle a pair of potential second-round barn burners: No. 3 North Carolina State-No. 6 Tennessee and No. 4 Gonzaga-No. 5 Utah, which features two of the best offenses in the tournament.
Player to Watch
Cameron Brink: The Stanford center is the best two-way player in the country. The projected No. 2 pick in next month’s WNBA draft and future face of the Los Angeles Sparks is averaging 17.8 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game.
Bracket Buster
No. 6 Tennessee: Going out on a limb with a 12-loss team that just as easily could flame out in the first round. But the Vols came within a second of beating No. 1 South Carolina in the SEC Tournament, and WNBA-bound forward Rickea Jackson (19.4 points, 8.0 rebounds) is usually the best player on the floor.
The Post’s Pick
Texas: The Big 12 champs, written off after losing Rori Harmon for the season, are the rare outfit with an elite offense and defense. The Longhorns are led by head coach Vic Schaefer, a March maestro, and prodigy freshman point forward Madison Booker (16.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists).
