Special Edition: Friday night and the lights are low

🍀 No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. ⚓ No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores, today at 2:30 p.m. ET: Turns out New Jersey produces stellar hoopers. Vandy’s Mikayla Blakes, the nation’s leading scorer, and ND’s Hannah Hidalgo, one of the best two-way players in the game, both hail from the Garden State. There must’ve been something in the water.

• The higher-seeded ’Dores are the better squad on paper, but the last time Hidalgo and Blakes went head-to-head (in an NJ high school game, of course) the Irish icon took the dub. Will history repeat itself, or can Blakes take Vandy to their first Elite Eight since 2002?

🩵 No. 4 UNC Tar Heels vs. 🐺 No. 1 UConn Huskies, today at 5 p.m. ET: The Huskies continue to prove they are that team. UConn breezed through the first two rounds, winning both tilts by a combined 91 points. Par for the course when the tandem of sophomore Sarah “Player of the Year frontrunner” Strong and grad student Azzi Fudd hit the hardwood.

• All signs point to a UConn victory, but it could be closer than you think: UNC is one of the best defensive teams in the country, they rebound exceptionally well, and head coach (HC) Courtney Banghart’s had the inside scoop on Strong for years.

🐻 No. 1 UCLA Bruins vs. 💛 No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers, tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET: Six-foot-seven Bruins senior standout Lauren Betts is one of the best players in college hoops, but she doesn’t do it alone, and that depth is one of UCLA’s biggest strengths. Interestingly, it’s also the calling card of their Sweet 16 opponent for this Big Ten rematch.

• All five Golden Gophers starters, including second-round hero Amaya Battle, average double-digit points, and any one of them could be the main character. Still, it’ll take a superhuman performance from the whole squad to unseat these powerhouse Bruins.

🐯 No. 2 LSU Tigers vs. 👿 No. 3 Duke Blue Devils, tonight at 10 p.m. ET: LSU boasts one of the most potent offenses in the country, averaging an NCAA–best 95.3 points per game. That plus the title-winning experience of senior Flau’jae Johnson, junior MiLaysia Fulwiley, and HC Kim Mulkey is a recipe for March success.

• On the flip side, Duke’s juggernaut defense allows just 58.7 points per game, anchored by six-foot-two sophomore Toby Fournier’s 2.3 blocks per game. Unlike the Tigers, the Blue Devils have advanced past the Sweet 16 just once since 2013. This one’s going to be good.

〽️ No. 2 Michigan Wolverines vs. ❤️ No. 3 Louisville Cardinals, tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET: Who run the world? Girls Sophomores, at least when it comes to the Wolverines. Second-year sensation Olivia Olson netted all 27 of her points in the second half of Sunday’s win, while her classmate Syla Swords chipped in 26.

• Not to be outdone, the defensive-minded Cardinals are orchestrating their own youth movement, led by, you guessed it, a pair of standout sophomores in Tajianna Roberts and Imari Berry. These kids are more than alright.

🤘 No. 1 Texas Longhorns vs. 🐱 No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats, tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET: Texas burnt orange and defensive dominance go hand-in-hand, a reality the Wildcats know all too well. When these SEC foes matched up last month, Texas forced Kentucky into a season-high 23 turnovers — and the Longhorns’ defense has only gotten better since.

• With that in mind, expect Kentucky junior Clara Strack to be the X-factor. If the six-foot-five center (who went 0-for-4 from the three-point line against Texas in February) can hit from long range, the Wildcats just might rock the house.

🐔 No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks vs. 🔴 No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners, tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET: HC Dawn Staley’s squad has just three blemishes on their résumé this season, and one of them is January’s 94–82 overtime (OT) loss to the Sooners. Superstar Oklahoma freshman Aaliyah Chavez was exceptional in that tilt, logging 15 of her 26 points in OT.

• South Carolina missed a ton of wide-open shots in that loss, including a whopping 15 layups. Just like a rooster, that won’t fly in this high-powered showdown as the Gamecocks seek their sixth straight Elite Eight appearance.

🐸 No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs vs. 🧡 No. 10 Virginia Cavaliers, tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET: Forget Hilary, UVA is Cinderella after winning three games in five days to become the first First Four team ever to reach the Sweet 16. And these ’Hoos are battle-tested: Two of those three matchups were won in extra time, with their second-round tilt decided in double OT.

• But midnight could strike in the form of TCU grad student Olivia Miles, aka the best playmaker in college basketball. Expect Miles and UVA junior Kymora Johnson to duel all game long — the winner of that head-to-head just might find themselves in the Elite Eight.