Top 4 conference challenger teams feat. JuJu Watkins' USC, Flau'jae Johnson's LSU and more 

The 2024-25 women's college basketball season will be more exciting at the turn of the new year with the start of conference play action.

This will be the true test for women's basketball programs who aspire to make it to the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Teams will play their conference mates for a chance to play for an automatic bid in the annual showcase, also known as March Madness.

The Power 4 conferences — ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and the SEC — had their early favorites emerging in Notre Dame (ACC), UCLA (Big Ten), Kansas State (Big 12) and South Carolina (SEC).

However, among the favored teams come other schools that could cause a stir in the conference rankings. They can steal an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament if the top-tier squads play down to their expected levels.

Here are four teams that could challenge the favorites in the Power 4 conferences.

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Top 4 teams that could challenge Power 4 favorites in 2024-25 women's college basketball season

#4. Duke

The Duke Blue Devils (10-3, 1-0 in ACC) have put up an impressive in its non-conference part of the season, winning nine of 12 games. Two of those victories were against AP Top 10 teams Kansas State and Oklahoma and have put up a fight before losing to defending champion South Carolina and Maryland early in the season.

Duke — led by the trio of Ashlon Jackson, Reigan Richardson and freshman Toby Fournier — has a chance to put up a surprising stand against Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles and the rest of Notre Dame when the two teams meet on Feb. 17 at Purcell Pavilion.

The performance of both teams in the marquee clash could set them up for a possible final meeting for the ACC Tournament title in March.

The Blue Devils have averaged 80.7 points and shot 47.9% from the field this season. Their impressive stats will be tested in conference play as they will meet stronger ACC teams that could give a tough fight against them.

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#3. TCU

TCU guard Hailey Van Lith (Image Source: IMAGN)

The transfer of Hailey Van Lith has worked brilliantly for the TCU Horned Frogs (12-1, 1-0 in Big 12) in nonconference play. Van Lith has efficiently played the role of a playmaker, setting up her teammates Sedona Prince and Madison Conner to score easily.

The former LSU and Louisville guard has also taken up the scoring cudgels when needed, enabling the team to secure crucial wins against Notre Dame and NC in the Cayman Islands and NC State.

Although its loss against defending champion South Carolina was a reality check, TCU bounced back from the setback and carved out big wins over Louisiana Tech (92-41), Samford (103-64) and UCF (92-52).

The No. 11 Horned Frogs, who are set to play Brown in their last nonconference game on Sunday, are expected to give Kansas State a ton of issues with their big three of Van Lith, Prince and Conner leading the charge.

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#2. LSU

The LSU Tigers (14-0) are among the few teams sporting a clean slate this season. However, Flau'jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow, Mikaylah Williams and the Lady Tigers' toughness were tested in only a few games, particularly against Washington (68-67) and Stanford (94-88).

The rest were runaway victories that left a question mark on college basketball experts about their legitimacy as title contenders. LSU will face Albany for its last nonconference matchup on Sunday before running the SEC regular season gauntlet, beginning with Arkansas on Jan. 2.

The Lady Tigers have averaged 93.3 ppg as a team thanks to the offense of Johnson, Morrow, Williams and Kailyn Gilbert. The team has been a rebounding menace with nation-leading Morrow grabbing 14.0 rebounds per contest.

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#1. USC

The USC Trojans have emerged as the top challenger for UCLA's possible dominance in the Big Ten Conference. The Trojans (11-1, 1-0 in Big Ten) have played well since their season-opening test against Ole Miss in France.

They routed their weaker foes and passed UConn's challenge last week. Despite losing to Notre Dame early in the season, the duo of JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen are almost unstoppable, leading the Women of Troy to numerous runaway victories in nonconference play.

As a team, USC has averaged 85.1 ppg, thanks to the impressive numbers of Watkins (24.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.4 spg and 2.0 bpg) and Iriafen (18.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg). Rayah Marshall and Talia von Oelhoffen have also contributed well to the Trojans' cause this season.

Tougher challenges await Watkins and USC in the coming days with the full brunt of the Big Ten Conference regular season schedule on the way. Matches against Maryland (Jan. 8), Iowa (Feb. 2), Ohio State (Feb. 8) and UCLA (Feb. 13 and Mar. 1) will test the Trojans' true colors and readiness to compete deep into March Madness in March and April.

Can any of these four challenger teams go all the way and win the national championship this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.