64 All-Time Great Women’s Teams Tip Off Value Add Basketball Tournament

Rather than resume a minor tournament we had going when we switched from basketball to baseball six months ago, we remembered that we had purposely built the Value Add Basketball Game to exactly 64 all-time great women’s teams — the perfect number for a tournament with no byes.

To set the bracket, we used our current team ratings, which have been impacted by how each team has performed in our game so far. Our first tournament champion, the 1998 Tennessee team, is now No. 1 with an 18.4 rating, meaning we calculate that team to be 18.4 points better than the average great team in the game. At the other end is our No. 64 team, the 2009 Auburn team — admittedly a homer choice since my family had season tickets that year. We calculate that Auburn team to be 16 points worse than the average great team in the game.

These ratings appear on the team sheets you use to play the game. So we simply seeded No. 1 against No. 64, No. 2 against No. 63, and so on. As noted in the table below, that makes Pat Summitt’s all-time great 1998 Tennessee Vols a 34-point favorite over the 2009 Auburn team in our opening matchup.

Of course, the farther you go down the list, the more evenly matched the games become. The four teams in the middle are all within a point of each other, so the 2019 Marquette team is an even pick against the 1993 Ohio State team, while the 2024 Indiana team is even against the 1985 Old Dominion team.

So here are our next 32 women’s matchups. You can, of course, play your own free games using any of these teams by clicking here and printing out the one-sheet for each team.

And yes, Caitlin Clark’s 2024 Iowa team is a 10-point favorite against Sue Wicks and the 1988 Rutgers team. The cards for Clark and Michael Jordan appear on top of this blog showing how to play the free game.

Rnk	Team	Year	Leading Scorer	Record, average score & above ave. great
1	Tennessee	1998	Chamique Holdsclaw	4-0, Score/Allow: 76.3-64, Rating: 18.4
64	Auburn	2009	DeWanna Bonner	0-1, Score/Allow: 55-84, Rating: -16
				Tennessee 34 point favorite
2	Connecticut	2002	Swin Cash	1-0, Score/Allow: 75-46, Rating: 15.5
63	Virginia	2018	Dominique Toussaint	0-1, Score/Allow: 57-81, Rating: -15.2
				Connecticut 31 point favorite
3	Tennessee	2007	Candace Parker	1-0, Score/Allow: 89-70, Rating: 14.7
62	Delaware	2013	Elena Delle Donne	0-1, Score/Allow: 46-75, Rating: -13.5
				Tennessee 28 point favorite
4	Texas	1986	Fran Harris	1-0, Score/Allow: 76-66, Rating: 12.5
61	Purdue	2003	Shereka Wright	0-1, Score/Allow: 61-89, Rating: -12.8
				Texas 25 point favorite
5	Louisiana Tech	1982	Pam Kelly	3-1, Score/Allow: 76-67.5, Rating: 12.4
60	Penn State	2012	Maggie Lucas	0-1, Score/Allow: 64-84, Rating: -11.8
				Louisiana Tech 24 point favorite
6	South Carolina	2024	Kamilla Cardoso	1-0, Score/Allow: 84-55, Rating: 12
59	Arizona	2021	Aari McDonald	0-1, Score/Allow: 64-80, Rating: -9.3
				South Carolina 21 point favorite
7	Connecticut	1995	Rebecca Lobo	1-0, Score/Allow: 81-57, Rating: 10.8
58	Stanford	2012	Nneka Ogwumike	0-1, Score/Allow: 58-81, Rating: -9
				Connecticut 20 point favorite
8	Connecticut	2016	Breanna Stewart	1-1, Score/Allow: 80-64.5, Rating: 10.8
57	LSU	2005	Seimone Augustus	0-1, Score/Allow: 63-72, Rating: -8.2
				Connecticut 19 point favorite
9	Notre Dame	2018	Arike Ogunbowale	3-1, Score/Allow: 76.3-72.8, Rating: 9.9
56	North Carolina	2007	Ivory Latta	0-1, Score/Allow: 69-85, Rating: -8
				Notre Dame 18 point favorite
10	Connecticut	2010	Maya Moore	2-1, Score/Allow: 73.3-73.3, Rating: 9.3
55	Long Beach State	1987	Cindy Brown	0-1, Score/Allow: 53-98, Rating: -7.5
				Connecticut 17 point favorite
11	USC	1983	Cheryl Miller	2-1, Score/Allow: 72-63.3, Rating: 9.2
54	Ohio State	2016	Kelsey Mitchell	0-1, Score/Allow: 68-79, Rating: -7.3
				USC 17 point favorite
12	Old Dominion	1997	Clarisse Machanguana	1-0, Score/Allow: 85-69, Rating: 8.3
53	Minnesota	2004	Lindsay Whalen	0-1, Score/Allow: 72-76, Rating: -7.3
				Old Dominion 16 point favorite
13	Stanford	2021	Kiana Williams	1-1, Score/Allow: 79-72.5, Rating: 8.2
52	Texas	2018	Brooke McCarty	0-1, Score/Allow: 62-84, Rating: -6.5
				Stanford 15 point favorite
14	Louisiana Tech	1988	Erica Westbrooks	1-0, Score/Allow: 80-64, Rating: 7.2
51	USC	1994	Lisa Leslie	0-1, Score/Allow: 63-71, Rating: -6.3
				Louisiana Tech 14 point favorite
15	LSU	2023	Angel Reese	1-0, Score/Allow: 89-61, Rating: 6.8
50	Virginia Tech	2024	Elizabeth Kitley	0-1, Score/Allow: 76-80, Rating: -5
				LSU 12 point favorite
16	Baylor	2012	Brittney Griner	1-1, Score/Allow: 73.5-77, Rating: 6.2
49	Oklahoma	2002	Stacey Dales	0-1, Score/Allow: 79-85, Rating: -5
				Baylor 11 point favorite
17	Tennessee	1989	Bridgette Gordon	0-1, Score/Allow: 64-68, Rating: 6
48	Rutgers	2005	Cappie Pondexter	0-1, Score/Allow: 36-53, Rating: -4.2
				Tennessee 10 point favorite
18	Iowa	2024	Caitlin Clark	1-0, Score/Allow: 84-64, Rating: 5.8
47	Rutgers	1988	Sue Wicks	0-1, Score/Allow: 62-66, Rating: -4
				Iowa 10 point favorite
19	Auburn	1989	Vickie Orr	1-0, Score/Allow: 66-62, Rating: 5
46	Oklahoma	2010	Danielle Robinson	0-1, Score/Allow: 66-76, Rating: -3.5
				Auburn 9 point favorite
20	Notre Dame	2012	Skylar Diggins	0-1, Score/Allow: 70-78, Rating: 4
45	Georgia	2013	Jasmine Hassell	0-1, Score/Allow: 70-89, Rating: -3.3
				Notre Dame 7 point favorite
21	Michigan St.	2005	Liz Shimek	1-0, Score/Allow: 53-36, Rating: 3.8
44	Texas Tech	1993	Sheryl Swoopes	1-0, Score/Allow: 85-79, Rating: -3
				Michigan St. 7 point favorite
22	Baylor	2019	Kalani Brown	1-1, Score/Allow: 74-73, Rating: 3.6
43	Louisville	2014	Shoni Schimmel	0-1, Score/Allow: 69-76, Rating: -2.8
				Baylor 6 point favorite
23	Oregon	2019	Sabrina Ionescu	0-1, Score/Allow: 81-84, Rating: 3.5
42	NC State	2024	Aziaha James	0-1, Score/Allow: 72-78, Rating: -2.3
				Oregon 6 point favorite
24	Colorado St.	1999	Becky Hammon	1-0, Score/Allow: 81-58, Rating: 3
41	Washington	2017	Kelsey Plum	0-1, Score/Allow: 57-64, Rating: -2.3
				Colorado St. 5 point favorite
25	Texas A&M	2011	Danielle Adams	0-1, Score/Allow: 69-76, Rating: 2.8
40	Louisville	2009	Angel McCoughtry	1-0, Score/Allow: 74-68, Rating: -1.7
				Texas A&M 5 point favorite
26	Maryland	2006	Crystal Langhorne	1-0, Score/Allow: 78-72, Rating: 2.3
39	Kentucky	2013	A'dia Mathies	1-0, Score/Allow: 72-63, Rating: -0.8
				Maryland 3 point favorite
27	Vanderbilt	2002	Chantelle Anderson	1-0, Score/Allow: 76-65, Rating: 2.2
38	Duke	2006	Monique Currie	0-1, Score/Allow: 66-75, Rating: -0.3
				Vanderbilt 3 point favorite
28	Notre Dame	2001	Ruth Riley	1-0, Score/Allow: 80-76, Rating: 2
37	UCLA	2018	Jordin Canada	1-0, Score/Allow: 71-63, Rating: -0.3
				Notre Dame 2 point favorite
29	Virginia	1991	Tonya Cardoza	1-0, Score/Allow: 76-72, Rating: 1.3
36	South Carolina	2017	A'ja Wilson	1-1, Score/Allow: 69-73.5, Rating: 0
				Virginia 1 point favorite
30	Mississippi State	2018	Victoria Vivians	0-1, Score/Allow: 58-74, Rating: 1.3
35	Old Dominion	1980	Inge Nissen	0-1, Score/Allow: 55-80, Rating: 0.5
				Mississippi State 1 point favorite
31	Marquette	2019	Natisha Hiedeman	1-0, Score/Allow: 68-64, Rating: 1
34	Ohio State	1993	Katie Smith	0-1, Score/Allow: 65-76, Rating: 1
				Marquette 0 point favorite
32	Indiana	2024	Mackenzie Holmes	1-0, Score/Allow: 78-70, Rating: 1
33	Old Dominion	1985	Medina Dixon	0-1, Score/Allow: 68-74, Rating: 1
				Indiana 0 point favorite