March Madness Begins
Ah! March Madness. It’s time to sharpen your pencils! With top seeds, potential Cinderella stories, and powerhouse programs in the mix, fans can now fill out their brackets and prepare for one of the most thrilling tournaments in sports.
Top Seeds
The 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament has unveiled its top seeds, with UCLA, South Carolina, Texas, and Southern California (USC) earning the coveted No. 1 spots. Notably, UCLA secured the top overall seed for the first time in the program’s history.
The Bruins’ exceptional season, marked by a 30-2 record and a dominant run through the Big Ten tournament, including a significant victory over USC in the championship game, solidified their position at the pinnacle of the tournament bracket.
Defending champions South Carolina continued their impressive performance with a 30-3 record, clinching their ninth SEC title. Despite their strong season, they were awarded the second overall seed, a decision that sparked some debate among fans and analysts.
For the first time ever, the Ivy League got three teams into the field. Regular season champ Columbia is a No. 11, Ivy Madness winner Harvard is seeded 10th, and Princeton made the field for the sixth straight season, earning an at-large bid and getting seeded 11th. Both Columbia and Princeton will play in First Four games.
Texas also earned a No. 1 seed, boasting a 31-3 record and demonstrating consistent excellence throughout the season. USC, led by standout sophomore JuJu Watkins, secured the final No. 1 seed with a 28-3 record.
The tournament kicks off with the First Four games on March 19-20, followed by the first and second rounds from March 21-24, hosted on the campuses of the top 16 seeds.
Conference Leaders
This year’s bracket also highlights the strength of various conferences, with the Big Ten leading with 12 teams, the SEC with 10, and the ACC with eight. Notably, the Ivy League achieved a historic milestone by securing three tournament bids for the first time, with Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton earning their spots.
As the tournament unfolds, all eyes will be on these top-seeded teams to see if they can live up to expectations and make deep runs in the quest for the national championship.
Bracket Heartbreak
James Madison is understandably upset and probably deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, it got left on the wrong side of the bubble. Hurting the Dukes’ case was zero Quad 1 wins. Each of the Ivy teams that got in had at least one victory in Q1.
Just a few weeks ago, Notre Dame was ranked by Associated Press voters as the No. 1 team in the country. Since then, beginning with a defeat in double overtime at N.C. State, the Irish have lost three of their past five games. The Selection Committee seemed to punish Niele Ivey’s side for its sloppy finish, giving them the No. 3 seed in the Birmingham 3 region.
While that’s a bit of a tougher draw than the Irish expected, remember what this team did when it played at its very best. Notre Dame beat Texas, USC, UConn, North Carolina and Duke in the regular season — a particular collection of impressive wins that no other team in the country has.
Key Matchups to Watch
As always, early-round matchups promise excitement and upsets. One intriguing first-round game features a battle between a veteran-led No. 6 seed against a dangerous No. 11 seed looking to make a statement. Meanwhile, programs like Gonzaga and Princeton will attempt to crash the party and shake up the bracket with their disciplined play and sharpshooting.
Rivalries could also emerge in the later rounds, with potential matchups between conference foes that add another layer of drama to the tournament. Could we see a rematch of last year’s epic Final Four clash? The possibilities are endless.
