College basketball: Texas, Missouri, Duke highlight 2018 women's Gulf Coast Showcase field

College basketball

Last year's Gulf Coast Showcase eight-team women's basketball draw in Germain Arena ended up about as good as it can get.

In the title game, then-No. 6 Notre Dame snapped defending national champion and third-ranked South Carolina's 17-game winning streak with a 92-85 victory.

The Irish went on to win their first national championship in 17 years and just second ever.

Officials for the Showcase that has been in play since 2013 introduced the women's 2018 field on Thursday. Texas, which has been to 15 Sweet 16s, including the past four, and is No. 10 on the early ESPN Top 25 poll by Charlie Creme, highlights yet another deep pool.

The other really major players are Duke, Missouri and Michigan. Washington also is a Power Five conference program, but the Huskies are in major rebuild mode after making the 2016 Final Four. Mid-major power Quinnipiac also will be in the field, as will suddenly salty Ball State and Fordham.

The bracket for the Nov. 23-25 Friday-Sunday night games during Thanksgiving week will be played out after the men's field -- consisting of mid-majors who will be announced next week -- compete Nov. 19-21.

"This year's field may be the deepest in the six years of the Gulf Coast Showcase," said ESPN analyst and Gulf Coast Shootout women's tournament director Debbie Antonelli. "Five teams -- Quinnipiac, Duke, Texas, Michigan and Missouri -- played in the NCAA tournament with two of those advancing to the Sweet 16. Seven of the eight teams won 22-plus games last season and the eighth team, Washington, is two years removed from playing in the Final Four."

In the men's Showcase, Florida Gulf Coast University will play for the first time since the Eagles went 2-1 in the 2014 Showcase. Per NCAA rules, FGCU's men and women can only play in the tournament just down Ben Hill Griffin Parkway once every five years.

FGCU women's basketball followers know all about Missouri and Quinnipiac, and the Eagles will get to scout out Duke, where they'll play on Dec. 30. As 12 seeds, FGCU upset fifth-seeded Missouri at Stanford in the Eagles' best-ever NCAA tournament win before falling to the fourth-seeded host in an NCAA tournament second-rounder. And FGCU is 2-1 all-time against Quinnipiac.

Texas finished last season ranked eighth under eighth-year coach Karen Aston. The Big 12's Longhorns won the 1986 national title, have been to four Final Fours, and made the Elite Eight in 2016.

Texas graduated its top two scorers from last season's 28-7 team, but senior guard Lashann Higgs (12.8 ppg) is back and the Longhorns added homegrown, 6-foot-5 forward Charli Collier, the consensus second-rated player in her class.

Creme has Missouri at No. 11. The Tigers return All-American candidate Sophie Cunningham, the no-senior guard who dropped 35 points on FGCU, from last season's 24-8 team. The Tigers are led by ninth-year coach Robin Pingeton and they've averaged 24 wins the past four seasons.

Duke is at No. 20 in Creme's April poll. The Blue Devils, who are led by 12th-year coach Joanne P. McCallie, lost to top-seeded UConn in the Sweet 16 to finish 24-9 last season. Duke has been to 17 Sweet 16s and four Final Fours.

Michigan is led by seventh-year coach Kim Barnes Arico, already the winningest coach in Wolverines history with 134 victories. Michigan went 23-10 last season and into the NCAA tournament's second round where the Wolverines fell to second-seeded Baylor.

Washington went 7-23 in coach Jody Wynn's first run last season.

Fordham has been to just two NCAA tournaments, but the Atlantic 10 program under eighth-year coach Stephanie Gaitley went 24-10 last season. It was the fifth season in a row for the Rams to break 20 wins.

Ball State has just one NCAA tournament appearance, back in 2009. But the Mid-American's Cardinals were 25-7 last season and made the WNIT's second round under seventh-year coach Brady Sallee.

"Any of these teams is capable of winning three straight on Thanksgiving weekend, so the title is certainly up for grabs this year," Antonelli said.

2018 Women's Gulf Coast Showcase

Who: Ball State, Duke, Fordham, Michigan, Missouri, Quinnipiac, Texas and Washington
When: Nov. 23-25
Where: Germain Arena, Estero
First-Round Matchups: Friday, Nov. 23 -- Ball State vs. Fordham, 11 a.m.; Duke vs. Washington, 1:30 p.m.; Texas vs. Quinnipiac, 5 p.m.; Michigan vs. Missouri, 7:30 p.m.