Entering Sunday’s women’s NCAA Tournament bracket reveal, there was a looming question about who would be the field’s top seed. In a season full of parity, SEC tournament champion South Carolina and Big Ten tournament champion UCLA had strong cases.
The Bruins, however, were given the No. 1 overall designation.
The Gamecocks were still one of the four No. 1 seeds, and they were joined by Texas and USC on the No. 1 line. Around the group is a deep field. No singular dominant team emerged in the 2024-25 season. Four programs held the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, tying the record most recently set in 2021.
The Bruins (30-2) hope their momentum continues into the field of 68. Last weekend, UCLA captured its first conference championship since 2006, defeating USC in the third matchup between the two Los Angeles powerhouses. With the victory, UCLA, which had spent 12 consecutive weeks atop the AP poll, eclipsed 30 wins for the first time in program history.
Junior center Lauren Betts leads the Bruins in points (19.6), rebounds (9.7), blocks (2.9) and field goal percentage (63.4 percent), having emerged as the program’s All-America-level focal point. Coach Cori Close’s team is one of the most experienced in the field, with seven of its eight most-used players being upperclassmen.
The Gamecocks (30-3), the second No. 1 seed, hope to become the first repeat champions since UConn in 2015-16. Although they lost three games this season, their most since 2020-21, this year’s group is still just as dangerous. South Carolina features a rotation that is one of the deepest in the nation, with freshman forward Joyce Edwards, sophomore forward Chloe Kitts and sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley excelling in recent SEC games.
The Gamecocks went undefeated last season and returned four starters. They are looking to advance to their fifth consecutive Final Four and win their third national title in four years.
Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said she was “a little bit surprised” that South Carolina did not receive the No. 1 overall seed. The Gamecocks played 19 Quad 1 games and went 16-3 in those contests, the most Quad 1 wins of any school in the nation.
“We manufacture our schedule and put ourselves in a position to be the No. 1 overall seed,” Staley said. “And I do think if you do the blind test and you put our resume against any other team in the field, I think you’ll pick us.
“It’s not going to be motivation for us moving forward. It’s hard enough to win a national championship. We don’t need a chip on our shoulder. We do need to voice it. … For us, maybe we don’t put ourselves in a position where we have hiccups.”
NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee chair Derita Dawkins said there were two key factors between UCLA and South Carolina. One was their head-to-head matchup, which UCLA won 77-62 in November, and the other was South Carolina’s blowout loss to UConn in mid-February, a demerit in the committee’s mind for being an uncompetitive loss.
The Trojans (28-3) and Longhorns (31-3) are No. 1 seeds for the second consecutive season.
USC features arguably the country’s top player: sophomore guard JuJu Watkins. Watkins has scored 20 points or more in an NCAA-leading 26 games this season, and she is likely to be an All-American for the second consecutive season.
A potential matchup with No. 2 UConn and star guard Paige Bueckers looms in the Elite Eight. The Trojans and Huskies met in that round a season ago, with UConn winning 70-63. The programs also played each other this past December; the Trojans won 72-70.
Texas also has an elite sophomore in wing Madison Booker. Booker was named her conference’s player of the year for the second consecutive season and leads a Longhorns program that is No. 2 in points differential per 100 possessions. Both schools either won outright or shared conference regular-season titles but lost in their respective tournament championship games.
If all four No. 1 seeds advance to the Final Four, each of the semifinal matchups would be a fourth meeting between the two teams. UCLA and USC have played three times this season, as have South Carolina and Texas.
The top 16 teams in the women’s field host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. For the third consecutive year, the women’s tournament will use only two host cities for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds. The sides of the draw are determined by their regional final location and a number. Birmingham, Ala., and Spokane, Wash., are the two host sites.
UCLA leads Spokane Regional 1, South Carolina is in Birmingham Regional 2, Texas tops Birmingham Regional 3, and USC is atop Spokane Regional 4.
Tampa, Fla., will host the 2025 Final Four, with the semifinals set for April 4 and the final set for April 6.
The Big Ten led all conferences with 12 teams in the field, followed by the SEC (10), ACC (eight) and Big 12 (seven). Virginia Tech was the first team out.
What about UConn?
The Huskies (30-3) are entering the NCAA Tournament looking to claim a third championship this season, having already won the Big East regular-season and conference tournament titles. UConn is led by Bueckers, the likely No. 1 pick in this April’s WNBA Draft. Bueckers, like her teammates, is still looking to win a national championship. Though UConn has made the Final Four in three of the last four seasons and 15 of the last 16 NCAA Tournaments, it has not won a national championship since 2015-16.
If the Huskies make a 24th Final Four during Geno Auriemma’s tenure, it will likely also be because of freshman Sarah Strong. Though Bueckers leads UConn in scoring (19.0 points per game), Strong leads UConn in rebounds (8.4), steals (2.4) and blocks (1.6) per game.
Who else could make the Final Four?
For much of the season, Notre Dame looked well positioned to reach its first Final Four since 2018-19. The Irish won 19 consecutive games as they ascended to the No. 1 spot in the AP poll. But they enter the NCAA Tournament having lost three of their last five games, including their ACC tournament semifinal matchup with Duke. The Fighting Irish fell to a No. 3 seed as a result, but in Texas’ region — a team they beat 80-70 in overtime in December.
Still, Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles, Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron were named finalists for the best point guard, shooting guard and small forward in the country, and the trio is more than capable of lifting the Irish past the Elite Eight, the round in which their season has ended in three consecutive years.
Fellow ACC competitor NC State, the No. 2 seed in UCLA’s region, is seeking a return trip to the Final Four after sharing its conference’s regular-season title with the Irish. Guards Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James make up the Wolfpack’s talented backcourt and are critical to NC State’s being among the country’s best teams at limiting turnovers.
TCU, meanwhile, is seeking to build on what is already its best season in program history. Led by Big 12 Player of the Year Hailey Van Lith, the Horned Frogs won a school-record 31 games this season and swept both regular-season and conference tournament titles. They enter the NCAA Tournament having led at halftime in 24 straight games and in an NCAA-best 31 contests. TCU is the No. 2 seed in the region with Texas and Notre Dame, and it handed the Fighting Irish their first loss of the season in November.
What else to watch for
Last year’s tournament didn’t feature many upsets, as only three of the top 16 seeds didn’t make the Sweet 16. Still, it proved exciting and broke countless viewership records.
The title game between Iowa and South Carolina drew more television viewers than the men’s, averaging 18.9 million on ABC and ESPN and peaking at 24 million. It was the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record and the most-watched basketball game, men’s or women’s, since 2019.
Though this year’s tournament is unlikely to surpass that mark, new stars such as Betts, Strong and Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes emerged throughout the season and the sport showed continued growth nationally. Even with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese graduating from Iowa and LSU, respectively, and joining the professional ranks, ESPN’s women’s basketball viewership increased this season, with games broadcast on the network up 13 percent year over year. Three games on ABC also saw a 120 percent increase in viewership year over year.
This year’s NCAA Tournament features six schools that are making their debut in the field of 68. But it also marks the first time in 36 years that Stanford will not be taking part in the draw. The Cardinal had held the second-longest active NCAA Tournament appearance streak, appearing in every field since 1987, but they went 16-14 in coach Kate Paye’s first season.
Tennessee is making its 43rd consecutive appearance, the longest in the sport, and UConn’s streak of 36 consecutive tournaments is second.
Players to watch
Ta’Niya Latson hopes to lead Florida State to its first NCAA Tournament win since 2019. (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State: Latson enters Florida State’s first-round matchup against George Mason looking to have her dynamic offense repertoire translate into success for the Seminoles. She is the nation’s leading scorer (24.9 points per game), leading an FSU team that is No. 5 nationally in offensive rating. Latson has been an offensive force for two seasons, yet Florida State has lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in her freshman and sophomore seasons. She’ll look to change that this year as an experienced Seminoles group looks to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017.
Harmoni Turner, Harvard: Few players might be as important to their school’s success as Turner, a 5-foot-10 senior guard for the Crimson. She has improved throughout each of her four seasons at Harvard and leads the program into its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007. Turner averaged 22.5 points per game on 44 percent shooting from the field but went up another level during Ivy Madness, setting a conference tournament, career and school record for points (44) in Harvard’s tournament semifinal win over Princeton. She backed that up with a 24-point, four-assist outing in Harvard’s Ivy Madness final victory over Columbia. Harvard will play Michigan State in the first round and could meet NC State in the second round.
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma: Beers is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament and was one of the stars of last year’s event as she led Oregon State to the Elite Eight. A season ago, she averaged 15.8 points and nine rebounds on 69.2 percent shooting in the Beavers’ four tournament games. She is looking to replicate that success after transferring to Oklahoma. The Sooners haven’t been to a Sweet 16 since 2013, but they are poised to make a deep run, having never been ranked below No. 16 in this year’s AP poll. Beers averaged 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds this season. She remains as efficient as ever, leading the SEC in 2-point field goal percentage (68.8 percent), which also ranks third best in the nation.
Aneesah Morrow, LSU: Morrow was helped off the floor in the third quarter of LSU’s SEC tournament semifinal loss to Texas last weekend. Coach Kim Mulkey said she aggravated a mid-foot sprain, something she first injured in the Tigers’ last game against Texas on Feb. 16. Keep a close eye on her status, as the 6-foot-1 forward could be one of the most impactful bigs in the tournament if healthy. Morrow, a second-team All-American in The Athletic’s voting, averaged 18.5 points and an NCAA-leading 13.6 rebounds per game. She helped the Tigers climb as high as No. 4 in the AP poll. LSU star guard Flau’jae Johnson is also dealing with an injury, having not played since Feb. 27 because of shin inflammation. Mulkey has said they rested Johnson in recent weeks so she could be available for the NCAA Tournament. Both players were shown wearing boots during the Tigers’ March Madness bracket unveiling. If the Tigers advance to the Elite Eight, they could face the Bruins in the bracket for the second consecutive year. LSU beat UCLA in last year’s Sweet 16.
(Top photo: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)