Baylor, Stanford, UConn and Notre Dame earned No. 1 seeds Monday night when the women's NCAA tournament draw was released. Here are four storylines worth paying attention to once the tournament tips off next week: 1. Will Baylor become the first team ever to go 40-0? The motivation that has fueled Baylor's 34-0 regular season came from the loss that ended the Bears' championship hopes last March. Top-seeded Baylor lost 58-46 in the Elite Eight to eventual national champion Texas A&M, a Big 12 rival the Bears had beaten three times last season prior to the NCAA tournament and has since defeated three times this season. What makes Baylor the clear favorite entering the NCAA tournament is the combination of 6-foot-8 national player of the year candidate Brittney Griner and a talented, experienced supporting cast. Already the most dominant defensive presence in women's college hoops, Griner has averaged 23.0 points per game and showcased improved ability to score over either shoulder or pass out of a double team. Griner's development and the perimeter marksmanship of guard Odyssey Sims has propelled Baylor to its best regular season in school history. In addition to beating the defending national champion Aggies three times, the Bears also defeated fellow No. 1 seeds Notre Dame and UConn and potential Elite Eight opponent Tennessee. 2. If Baylor doesn't win, who will? The teams with the best chance to deny Baylor's quest for an undefeated season are the other three No. 1 seeds, each of whom are familiar names to even casual women's hoops fans. Stanford has made four straight Final Fours without winning a championship, so sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike will be trying to put the Pac-12 champion Cardinal (31-1) in position to break that hex. Notre Dame (30-3) fell to Texas A&M in the title game last spring, so point guard Skylar Diggins spearheads the Big East regular season champion Irish's quest to avenge that loss.
