There is a bracket. There are 68 team fields for the 2025 Women's NCAA Tournament. Let's start the madness.
The top line didn't have all the surprises in that order: UCLA, South Carolina, Texas, USC and more. The Big Ten won the most teams on the field with 12, followed by 10 SECs, ACCs, and eight.
The Ivy League has led three teams to the field for the first time. Regular season champion Columbia came in 11th, Ivy Madness winner Harvard was 10th, and Princeton made the field with six consecutive wins, winning large bids and finished in 11th. Both Columbia and Princeton will play in the first four games.
Beyond the brackets and bubbles, there were winners and losers. Some teams cheered on their choices, while others left a sense of disappointment.
Let's break it down.
Winner: UCLA
The Bruins lost just two games in the regular season, both comparable to USC, but Lauren Betts and the Company revenged their defeat by the Trojans by winning them in the Big Ten title game. During the regular season surge, UCLA has achieved impressive victories in South Carolina, Louisville, Michigan, Baylor and Maryland. Ohio.
UCLA is the first seed in the NCAA tournament in the first place in the program's history. Cori Close's team is looking for their first trip to Final 4 after losing in Sweet 16 in the last two seasons.
The Bruins scored the top overall seed despite South Carolina having the most quad one win in the country. NCAA Selection Committee Derita Dawkins told ESPN of a 29-point loss at his South Carolina home uconn The entire seed hurts that case.
Winner: Ivy League
A year after receiving two bids for the NCAA Tournament, the Ivy League won three teams in the NCAA Tournament, further establishing its reputation as the nation's best mid-marger conference.
There's not much to say. Ivy's three teams have been streaming for a long time throughout the season and were worthy of bids. All three were in the top 47 in the net, earning 13 wins against Quad 1 and 2-2 opponents.
Loser: James Madison
While Dukes' hopes for the NCAA Tournament felt doomed when he lost overtime in the Sun Belt Tournament title game, James Madison had an impressive resume that many felt felt unusual for the mid-major team.
Think of James Madison winning votes in the Associated Press and Coach polls. Consider that the Dukes went 18-0 on regular season Sunbelt play. It's just one of seven teams that will be undefeated at this season's meeting. Consider that JMU's schedule is 26th in the national level of non-meeting strength. Dukes' 28 Division I victory will make mid-season teams most equal. Think of James Madison in RPI at 29th place.
Simply put, James Madison probably deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, it was left on the other side of the bubble. To hurt the Dukes case was a Zero Quad win. Each ivy team that came in received at least one win in the first quarter.
Winner: North Carolina Research Triangle
For the first time since 1998, all three teams, NC State, Duke and UNC, the Triangle region of Tar Heel State, will be holding the entire game over the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Combine it with the first weekend boys game being played at Lenovo Center in Raleigh. Tobacco Road will be the university basketball center.
Courtney Bangart's Tar Heels may have been a bit worried on Sunday night when Baylor and Maryland were revealed as the fourth species, but UNC has been taken away from the third seed in the Birmingham 2 area. They will face Oregon In the first round, the second round could be against one of Bangart's split ends in Columbia, Megang Griffith. Griffith coached under the Bangart in Princeton and they never faced in court.
Duke and North Carolina both acquired the second seed. The Wolfpack is located in the Spokane 1 area and the Blue Devils is located in Birmingham 2. That means we were able to see a potential third game of the season between Rivals Duke and North Carolina in the sweet 16. Oregon ducksSeeded in 10th place.
Loser: Notre Dame
Just a few weeks ago Notre Dame It was ranked as the number one team in the country by Associated Press voters. Since then, starting with a loss in double overtime in North Carolina, the Irish have lost three of his last five games. The selection committee apparently punished Niele Ivy's side with a sloppy finish and gave him the third seed in the Birmingham three regions.
It's a slightly tougher draw than the Irish people expected, but remember what this team did when they played at their best play. Notre Dame defeated Texas, USC, UCONN, North Carolina and Duke in the regular season. This is a particular collection of impressive victory that other teams in the country do not have.
The Irish may have to pass Texas again to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2019.
