Candace Parker shares her favorite teams in the Women’s NCAA Tournament

Chicago Sky F Candace Parker spoke with Yahoo Sports women’s basketball expert Cassandra Negley about progress made in the Women’s NCAA Tournament since her time at Tennessee, her picks to make noise in this year’s tournament, and why South Carolina may be the hungriest team in the nation.

Candace Parker joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of Degree’s Bracket Gap Challenge. While society continues to make strides in elevating women’s athletics, the goal of the Bracket Gap Challenge is to draw more attention to the women’s game and in turn, help drive even more promotion, attendance, and funding. Candace encourages fans to fill out a Women’s March Madness® Tournament bracket at BracketGapChallenge.com.

Video Transcript

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: We're here to chat with Candace Parker about "March Madness" which we are actually allowed to use as a branding term for the women's tournament this year, and we're talking about the Degree Bracket Gap Challenge. Candace, what was your experience like in college in terms of inequalities? How have you seen it change to now, and what do you hope to see in the next 10 to 20 years, when your kids are college-aged?

CANDACE PARKER: Well it's interesting because I think when you enter into this, like madness, right, like everybody in college plays for the NCAA tournament. Everybody wants to play in March in the first week in April. That was my goal, was to win a national championship at Tennessee. And fortunate enough, I was able to go, and live my dream. But I think when you're living your dream, you notice things that aren't equal, and the things that need to change.

And with that being said, you know, I definitely have seen a lot of progress since the days when I was playing. But I also noticed that there are so many more things that we need to do. And I think it starts with visibility, for sure

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: When you talk about Tennessee, let's talk about Tennessee now, they've had a lot of injuries but they're still atop the SEC. What can we expect to see from them in the tournament?

CANDACE PARKER: Well, you know, Tennessee is one of those teams that if you notice, every single time you think you're out of a ballgame, they're able to claw their way back in. I mean, I don't know how many times people have flipped from the game. My dad put from the LSU game this past weekend. Were right back in it with a chance to win.

So you know, I think Tennessee is definitely had their share of adversity as other teams have. But I think the teams that go the farthest in the tournament are able to kind of rebound from that, and capitalize on the adversity, and use it as an advantage.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: So we don't have the brackets yet, but what are some teams that you like to make the final four? Maybe a title pick?

CANDACE PARKER: I really really love LSU Khayla Pointer, who is a phenomenal point guard, and I definitely go with the underdogs. You know obviously, we could talk Louisville, we could talk N.C.State, we could talk Connecticut, we could talk South Carolina, obviously. But I just think the underdog of making that tournament, you know, that final four could be an LSU.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: What kind of underdogs do you like? Are there under the radar teams that you think can go deep, or at least can pull an upside in the first week?

CANDACE PARKER: If Oregon is able to get themselves together and get in, they have a squad that, you know, can really get things going. I mean, they took Stanford to almost a possession by possession game. You know, I think Stanford is another team that I think is kind of flying under the radar, started off really heavy at the beginning of the year with a lot of attention, suffered an early loss.

And I think the best thing in the year, if you're not going to go undefeated, it's better to cry under the radar, you know. It's better to kind of like take your bumps early, and then that way, you know, you can be ready for the NCAA tournament.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: So like the Chicago Sky?

[LAUGHTER]

CANDACE PARKER: However, I would rather it not be that way. We don't want to be a sixty, but, yeah. Like yes. Like this past year.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: A big thing about your sky team was there was so much hunger for different players, for different reasons. Is there a team in women's college basketball you see this year with that type of hunger for a title?

CANDACE PARKER: You know, they always say that, you know, what is it? Working hard beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. But when you have talent, and you work hard, you have the best of both worlds. And I think South Carolina has that. You know, they suffered a couple of heartbreaks last year. I mean, I think Aliyah Boston's image of her missing that layup, her face is like etched in my memory, so I know that that's in her heart as well.

And, you know, I think that they're just hungry, and they're playing with a Tenacity , if they can balance outside shots with getting the ball inside to their bigs, you know, I think it's theirs to lose.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: So let's talk the degree bracket gap challenge, which is always a mouthful for me, but it's very important. The winner will receive a $25,000 cash prize, but they'll also receive a $75,000 donation to the women's college basketball program of their choice. What kind of impact can that kind of money make on a women's basketball program like that?

CANDACE PARKER: Well, I think just in terms of the degree bracket gap challenge, just visibility, and making women's basketball important, and putting it front and center. You know, I think that the amount of money It could really contribute to the women's basketball program, but I think the visibility, and the conversation around it does just that much more.

And you talk about how we make things better. We make things better by continuing to have that conversation, to continue to have that new story, to continue to talk about it. And, you know, I think that women's basketball is getting there, but this will definitely help

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: Candace, thank you for being with us today on Yahoo Sports.

CANDACE PARKER: Thanks for having me.