South Dakota State and 3 other mid-majors that can be Cinderellas in the women's NCAA Tournament

While parity is on the rise in women’s college basketball, upsets in the NCAA Tournament tend to happen much less than they do in the men’s game.

For example, we really haven’t seen a run in the women’s game where a low-seeded mid-major makes it all the way to the Final Four like we have on the men’s side in 2006 George Mason, 2011 VCU, 2013 Wichita State or 2018 Loyola Chicago. In the last decade, the only time a non-top-four seed has made the Final Four was No. 7 Washington in 2016.

We have, however, seen a 16-seed upset a No. 1 in women’s basketball, when Harvard beat Stanford in 1998. And last year, we saw No. 10 Creighton get to the Elite Eight, and double-digit seeds in Princeton, Belmont and Florida Gulf Coast win first round games.

So, upsets and Cinderellas are certainly possible in women’s college basketball, we’ve just historically seen less of them.

There’s a chance a few could make a run this season, based on their great defense, awesome 3-point shooting, an under-the-radar star, or their overlooked overall greatness.

Let’s take a look at a few Cinderella candidates on the women’s side.