If you consider yourself to be a college hoops fan, the past two weeks have been a slice of heaven as the men’s and women’s tournaments have whittled their way to their respective final four teams. The men’s and women’s brackets have played out drastically different as all four No. 1 seeds made the Final Four for the women’s side and the men’s Final Four contains a No. 11 seed Loyola Chicago squad and a No. 3 seed University of Michigan.

With the women’s bracket having all four No. 1 seeds remaining in the tournament, this year’s Final Four should be a sight to behold. All four remaining squads feature deep rosters and star players, and it’ll be interesting to see which No. 1 seed cuts down the nets out of UConn, Mississippi State, Notre Dame and Louisville. Despite the fact that the tournament still seems to be anyone’s game, we’ve done our research in an attempt to figure out who will be crowned champions on April 1.

Our Predictions for the Upcoming Semifinals Matchups

Before we reveal our pick to win the tournament, we’re going to first talk about which two teams we expect to play each other in the championship game. In the semifinal matchup between UConn and Notre Dame, it’s going to be hard to bet against the Huskies. UConn faced off against Notre Dame back in December when Geno Auriemma’s bunch defeated the Irish by nine points. Notre Dame has been ravaged by injuries as of late to the point that they played just six players during their Elite Eight victory over Oregon. UConn is an incredibly deep and talented team, and I think they should take care of business in their semifinal matchup with relative ease.

In the other semifinal, Mississippi State is taking on Louisville, and we are predicting that the Bulldogs will beat the Louisville Cardinals and advance to the championship game against the Huskies. Should both UConn and Mississippi State advance, it would set up a rematch between the two teams after the Bulldogs ended UConn’s 111-game winning streak during last year’s Final Four. This current Mississippi State team is tournament tested after finishing as last year’s runner-up and their talented duo of Victoria Vivians and Teaira McCowan will likely prove to be too much for Louisville. The Cardinals will have their hands full trying to stop McCowan, who scored 23 points and grabbed 21 boards in the Bulldogs Elite Eight win over UCLA.

Tickets to NCAA Women’s Final Four

Our Predicted Championship Matchup: No. 1 UConn vs. No. 1 Mississippi State

When UConn and Mississippi State met in the tournament last year, the Bulldogs were able to dramatically eliminate the Huskies thanks to a Morgan William buzzer-beater in overtime. While it’ll be tough to top last year’s game, a rematch in the tournament final between the two talented squads will be can’t-miss television and surely a close affair. With that being said, we’re going to give the nod to UConn and predict them to win the tournament. The Huskies have absolutely decimated the teams in their wake up to this point, winning by margins of 88 (seriously, this isn’t a typo – 88 points), 25, 13 and 29. This particular UConn team is not only loaded with the star power of Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams but also features a starting lineup in which all five players averaged double-figure points during this season.

As we previously mentioned, Mississippi State is no slouch and has two star players of their own. However, they lack the depth required to go toe-to-toe with UConn’s scoring depth. If the Bulldogs are to vanquish the Huskies for the second time in the past two years, Victoria Vivians and Teaira McCowan will have to be at the top of their game.

No matter the combination of teams that advance to the Championship game, this year’s Women’s Final Four is surely going to be must-see television for all college hoops fans. The semifinal matches are set to take place at 7:00 PM EST and 9:30 PM EST March 30, with the championship game tipping off on April 1 at 6:00 PM EST.

(Cropped image courtesy of Eric Wong via Flickr.)