Women’s Tourney Tips Off New 68-Team Format

Caitlyn Jordan/USA TODAY NETWORK

At long last, the first full slate of games in the first women’s 68-team NCAA tournament gets underway Friday, when three No. 1 seeds (South Carolina, Louisville and Stanford) will begin their quests for a national championship. While top seeds usually reign supreme in the women’s draw—87 of the 156 No. 1 seeds in the first 39 years of the event have made it to the Final Four—there is still plenty of intrigue.

A number of conference Players of the Year winners will take the floor, as will some of the sleepers we outlined earlier in the week. Early on in the women’s draw, don’t expect a ton of major upsets. Instead, favorites tend to handle their business—No.…