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Conference tournament season began with two SEC teams and two Big Ten teams on the No. 1 seed line. While all four had impressive resumes, Notre Dame and UConn still had a chance to break into that top group.

In the aftermath of the major conference tournaments, I present a status update: the No. 1 seeds got the job done.

Texas and USC were probably already locks to captain their own regions in the NCAA Tournament, but they still reached the SEC and Big Ten championships, respectively. Waiting were South Carolina and UCLA, which each probably needed to reach that game to feel comfortable.

But Sunday’s action wasn’t about feeling comfortable — it was about revenge. South Carolina lost its last meeting with Texas and needed a coin flip to earn the top seed in the SEC Tournament.

Ever since appearing as a No. 2 seed in the selection committee’s last top 16 reveal, the Gamecocks had been going scorched earth, and that didn’t change in a 64-45 win against the Longhorns, who previously hadn’t scored fewer than 60 points in a game this season.

SEC Tournament: Texas’ anemic display in loss to South Carolina highlights offensive issues
Jack Maloney
SEC Tournament: Texas’ anemic display in loss to South Carolina highlights offensive issues
That set up an interesting situation, where the winner of USC-UCLA would be in position to claim the No. 1 overall seed. UCLA’s only losses had come to the Trojans, and after trailing by 13 points early in the third quarter, it looked like the teams’ third meeting in four weeks might go the same way.

Instead, UCLA held USC to just 22% from the field in the second half and closed the game on a 37-19 run to beat the Trojans and snap a six-game losing streak in conference tournament title games.

UConn won the Big East Tournament with ease as expected, but could only jump to the fifth-ranked team overall.

On the bubble, Richmond’s loss to St. Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 Semifinals meant we got a bid stealer. Unfortunately for St. Joseph’s, its loss to George Mason in the subsequent championship game means the Patriots are the A-10’s second team in the NCAA Tournament.

That means Colorado falls out of the projected field. Sun Belt regular-season champion James Madison, which lost in overtime to Arkansas State in its championship game, is currently in the First Four Out, but still has a fighting chance on Selection Sunday to take another at-large spot out of the mix.

There are no more opportunities for bid stealers between now and Selection Sunday. Whoever wins each conference tournament will make it into the NCAA Tournament, plain and simple.

The biggest drama remaining comes in the Ivy League, where three teams are all positioned around the bubble. A three-bid Ivy is still possible, but it would probably require a Princeton-Columbia title game matchup and for the committee to have a strong view of Harvard.

Double asterisks (*) have won their conference tournaments. Single asterisks () are the top remaining seeds in ongoing conference tournaments.

No. 1 seeds

**UCLA (30-2, 16-2 Big Ten): NET 4, SOS 6

This will be the first NCAA Tournament seed No. 1 seed for UCLA and it’s been well-earned, as this is already the first 30-win season in program history.

The Bruins are efficient from the floor and dominant on the glass. That all starts with Lauren Betts, who also became the first player in the last 20 seasons with 15 points, four steals and four blocks in a conference championship game.

**South Carolina (30-3, 15-1 SEC): NET 2, SOS 1

The majority (16) of South Carolina’s wins have come against Quad-1 opponents this season. Its fellow No. 1 seeds are the only other schools even in double-digits.

When you play the type of schedule the Gamecocks have, a few losses are inevitable. But since the loss to UConn, South Carolina has won seven straight by an average of 22 points. Fresh off a ninth SEC Tournament title in the last 11 seasons, this still feels like the NCAA Tournament favorite.

Texas (31-3, 15-1 SEC): NET 3, SOS 2

At the end of the day, it’s still been more than three months since Vic Schaefer’s Longhorns have lost a game to anyone besides South Carolina. Even that was an overtime road loss against Notre Dame.

The SEC has been the country’s top conference this season and Texas dominated it the way a title contender should. This will be the Longhorns’ first back-to-back NCAA No. 1 seeds since the late 1980s.

USC (28-3, 17-1 Big Ten): NET 6, SOS 4

Entering the Big Ten championship Game, USC had won eight straight games against ranked opponents. While that came to an end, the Trojans have proven an ability to beat the nation’s very best and will have a chance in any game thanks to the transcendent JuJu Watkins.

No. 2 seeds

**UConn (31-3, 18-0 Big East): NET 1, SOS 48

The Huskies know how the game is played. Because of the Big East’s shortcomings, they need to play as difficult a non-conference schedule as possible to maximize their chances of being a top NCAA Tournament seed.

That was the case this season, and UConn had the No. 2 ranked non-conference SOS, behind just South Carolina. But they probably came a two-point loss against USC away from a No. 1 seed.

Notre Dame (26-5, 16-2 ACC): NET 5, SOS 8

After winning 19 straight games and starting the season 24-0 on American soil, the Irish enter the NCAA Tournament having lost three of their last five games. But with wins over three of the nation’s top five teams, one would be silly to count out Niele Ivey’s team.

With seven seniors on the roster including Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld and Liatu King, this is a team with tremendous experience looking to make a final stand with its core.

** TCU (31-3, 16-2 Big 12): NET 8, SOS 39

TCU’s best season in program history has also been a career resurgence for Big 12 Player of the Year Hailey Van Lith, who was somewhat lost in the shuffle with last year’s LSU team.

The fifth-year star led the Horned Frogs with 20 points in a Big 12 championship win over Baylor that moved TCU up to the No. 2 line.

**Duke (26-7, 14-4 ACC): NET 7, SOS 5

The final No. 2 seed should come down to either Duke or NC State, and this is one of the trickier decisions in this season’s Bracketology. The Blue Devils beat NC State in the ACC championship Game and got redemption for all four of their ACC losses over the past two weeks, but the committee may also decide that Duke started too far behind the Wolfpack.

No. 3 seeds

NC State (26-6, 16-2 ACC): NET 16, SOS 26

Despite clocking in at No. 16 in the NET rankings, NC State is more than deserving of a No. 2 seed should the committee go in that direction. With eight Quad-1 wins and no losses outside of Quad-1, the Wolfpack profile as an elite team capable of making a deep NCAA Tournament run.

Last season, NC State entered March Madness as a No. 3 seed before upsetting both Stanford and Texas on a run to the Final Four.

LSU (28-5, 12-4 SEC): NET 10, SOS 28

The Tigers took their tumbles down the stretch, but most importantly, Kim Mulkey has said that both Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow will be healthy for the NCAA Tournament. A healthy LSU team is still a remarkably tough out, and hosting games should allow the team to get its momentum back ahead of its first major test in the Sweet 16.

Oklahoma (25-7, 11-5 SEC): NET 13, SOS 13

A nine-game winning streak came to an end against South Carolina in the SEC semifinals after Raegan Beers finished with just seven points on 2 of 10 from the field.

The SEC’s leader in field goal percentage (66.0%) had averaged 23.3 points per game over her previous six games, shooting 75.0% from the field over that span. Beers reached the Elite Eight with Oregon State last season, where her team’s run once again ended at the hands of Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks.

North Carolina (27-7, 13-5 ACC): NET 20, SOS 32

For the first time in 10 years, North Carolina will be hosting NCAA Tournament games. It’s a major contrast with the Tar Heels men, who are firmly on the bubble.

But UNC has shown an ability to win away from Chapel Hill should it reach the second weekend of March Madness, with a 15-3 record in road and neutral site games.

No. 4 seeds

Kentucky (22-7, 11-5 SEC): NET 18, SOS 21

Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack remain a formidable one-two punch, but Kentucky’s ability to string together wins in the NCAA Tournament may depend on the ability of other players to get involved.

Charlotte transfer Dazia Lawrence has knocked down 63 triples this season at a 40 percent clip. Teonni Key has 11 double-doubles this season and had four in a five-game span late in SEC play. Those are the contributions the Wildcats need.

Maryland (23-7, 13-5 Big Ten): NET 28, SOS 19

Michigan dropped the hammer on Maryland with a dominating 98-71 win in the Big Ten quarterfinals, but the Terps’ overall resume is still deserving of a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In each of Maryland’s last three games, a different player has scored at least 25 points. Only the high-octane USC offense averaged more points per game among Big Ten teams this season.

Ohio State (25-6, 13-5 Big Ten): NET 19, SOS 31

Ohio State played one of the weaker non-conference schedules among power conference teams. With an 0-3 record against UCLA and USC, the team’s best win probably came at Michigan in early January.

That being said, the Buckeyes have still accumulated 12 wins over Quads 1-2, mostly against the middle tier of the Big Ten. They’ll hope that’s enough to host games in Columbus.

We are still in the middle of conference tournament season, but the major conference tournaments have wrapped up and given us plenty to talk about. While some of the results didn’t necessarily affect NCAA Tournament seedings, some of them did have major implications ahead of Selection Sunday.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are one of the teams that have fallen into a bit of a slump, and their struggles cost them some hardware. Others like the TCU Horned Frogs are enjoying a revitilization.

Conference realignment certainly played a role in this year’s chaos. Cori Close’s UCLA Bruins are thriving, while the Stanford Cardinal, also a former Pac-12 team, might soon be seeing the end of a historic streak.

Without further ado, here are some winners and losers from the major conference tournaments:

Winner: UCLA continues historic season
The Bruins have only lost two games this season and both were to rival USC. Getting revenge made their win in the Big Ten championship a little bit sweeter.

Big Ten Tournament: UCLA storms back from double-digit deficit, beats JuJu Watkins, USC in championship game
Jack Maloney
Big Ten Tournament: UCLA storms back from double-digit deficit, beats JuJu Watkins, USC in championship game
That was UCLA’s first conference tournament title since winning the Pac-10 in 2006. That victory also helped the Bruins return to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 rankings, marking their 13th week at the top spot this season. Before this year, UCLA had never been ranked No. 1 before. This is also the first season the program has registered 30+ wins.

It’s already a historic year for the Bruins, and it’s only getting better as winning the Big Ten Tournament means UCLA can feel more confident about getting a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Loser: Notre Dame slumping at wrong time
Falling to Duke 61-54 in the ACC Tournament semifinals pretty much cost Notre Dame the potential to earn a No. 1 seed.

The Fighting Irish were a Sweet 16 team in 2024 and also one of the hottest teams this season thanks to the nation’s best backcourt in Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles. They have also quietly been one of the top rebounding teams with players like Liatu King.

That being said, Niele Ivey’s team has had some lackluster performances lately on both sides of the court, and consequently they will enter the 2025 NCAA Tournament having lost three of their last five games.

Loser: Stanford’s NCAA Tournament streak likely over
Stanford fell to Clemson 63-46 in the first round of the ACC Tournament, and without a strong resume this season, the Cardinal will likely miss out on the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The program has not missed the Big Dance since 1988, and through that time Stanford has won three national championships and made 15 Final Four appearances. The Cardinal’s 36-year streak is second only to Tennessee (42) for the longest all-time.

The Cardinal have been a West Coast powerhouse for a while, but a lot of change has taken place there lately. Stanford went from the Pac-12 to the ACC after conference realignment, plus legendary coach Tara VanDerveer retired. Despite now-head coach Kate Paye being on the staff since 2005, the program had to go into rebuilding mode after losing Cameron Brink, Hannah Jump and Kiki Iriafen from last year’s squad.

Winner: TCU, Hailey Van Lith are a great fit
TCU has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2010, but winning the Big 12 title gave TCU an extra boost to be considered a No. 2 seed.

TCU finished last in the Big 12 two years ago with a 1-17 record, and now the Horned Frogs have won both the regular season and the conference tournament. Big 12 Player of the Year Hailey Van Lith played a key role in this success. She has shined all season and earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honor with 20 points in the tile game against Baylor.

Van Lith started her career at Louisville and spent last season under Kim Mulkey at LSU. She competed in three conference title games before, but this year she finally earned a victory.

Neutral: LSU misses out on SEC title, but gets healthy
LSU was originally going in the “loser” category, but in the grand scheme of things, the Tigers are doing just fine. While a conference title is always nice, LSU didn’t need to win the SEC Tournament because the Tigers did well enough in the regular season to earn the right to host in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers got bounced by Texas in the SEC semifinals, which means Kim Mulkey has still not won an SEC title since taking over the program in 2021 — but she did win a national championship in 2023.

That being said, the Tigers were competing without leading scorer Flau’Jae Johnson, who is resting while dealing with shin inflammation. That was Mulkey’s decision because she wants Johnson to be fully healthy for the NCAA Tournament.

Also, Aneesah Morrow was carried off the floor during the third quarter against Texas, and that injury scare had LSU fans holding their breath. However, Mulkey later gave a positive update, saying Morrow will be good to go for the NCAA Tournament.

Ashley Chea was still in high school the first time one of her highlights went viral. Late in the third quarter of a California state playoff game, Chea rocked the defense to sleep with a series of between-the-legs dribbles, then pulled up for a 3-pointer. She was already staring at the Flintridge Prep student section when the ball fell through the net, just before the buzzer sounded.

Chea wasn’t even trying to make a statement — “In the moment, I honestly had no idea that the ball was going to go in,” she said — but her game did it for her.

“I was really frustrated and I’m an emotional player and I showed that a lot in high school,” Chea said. “So I was upset that something happened with me and my teammate. I shot the ball then I turned around and everyone started cheering, so I was like ‘Oh my gosh, it probably went in,’ so then I did that little twirl.”

Now a sophomore at Princeton and an All-Ivy League honoree, Chea has made the jump from little screens to the big screen in Home Court, a feature-length documentary directed by Erica Tanamachi. The award-winning film will make its broadcast premiere on PBS on March 24.

Home Court opens with Chea dribbling and shooting in a park at night, interspersed with home video footage of her as a child doing the same.

“When I play basketball, I feel like there’s nothing around me that can stop me,” Chea says in a voiceover. “Like if a meteor came and flew into the gym, that won’t stop me from playing basketball. It’s like my safe space.”

Over the next 84 minutes, the film follows Chea from gym to gym. From the PCL tear that cost her her sophomore season to Flintridge Prep’s state tournament run in her senior year and her decision to go to Princeton, Home Court captures the ups and downs of being a high school star while exploring themes of immigration, race and class through the story of her family.

Chea’s mother, Lida, and father, Baov, arrived in America in the 1990s as refugees from Cambodia, where their families had suffered under the Khmer Rouge — Chea’s grandmother once had to escape the regime’s soldiers on a bicycle. Chea, who did not realize that her family was going to be such a big part of the documentary, said she was “naive” about everything they faced, but she now wants to learn more about her history.

Chea’s basketball journey began by accompanying her dad to his rec league games. She would spend hours with him every night, watching and learning before picking up a ball herself. In the film, she recalls making the second shot she ever took: “I told myself, ‘This sport is so easy, I don’t even know why people think it’s so hard.'”

The game may have come easier to Chea than most, but she also trained with Baov on a nightly basis, going through drills and copying moves she studied on YouTube. Eventually, she was invited to join a club team by someone who saw her shooting at halftime of one of her dad’s games. The time she spent with her dad through basketball paid off, but it came with a cost: less time with her mom, which contributed to their strained relationship, one of the film’s throughlines.

While Chea said she didn’t realize she was better than most kids until high school, others noticed earlier. Flintridge Prep coach Jayme Kiyomura Chan recalled seeing Chea play at a club tournament when she was still in middle school. “They threw the ball up and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this kid is unbelievable,'” Kiyomura Chan said. “She has a jump shot and she’s 13 years old. Like a boy’s jump shot. Right then and there, we knew that she was gonna be really special.”

Women’s Bracketology: UCLA retakes top position as No. 1 seeds are locked up
Connor Groel
Women’s Bracketology: UCLA retakes top position as No. 1 seeds are locked up
Kiyomura Chan was so convinced that she nearly got fired for advocating so hard for Chea to be accepted into Flintridge Prep. “I basically called and terrorized them every day,” she said. As much as she wanted to coach Chea, she also knew the long-lasting impact that a school like Flintridge Prep, where tuition runs close to $50,000 per year, could have.

“I made a plea that if we invest in this family, we’re gonna change an entire family’s educational path for generations to come with this one child,” Kiyomura Chan says early in the film.

Over Chea’s four years at Flintridge Prep, Kiyomura Chan became extremely close with her and her family, a relationship that continues to this day. Kiyomura Chan joked that she spends more money flying to Princeton to watch Chea play than she does on vacations.

“She was there for me whenever I needed her to be,” Chea said, adding that Kiyomura Chan was “like a mom for me.” Kiyomura Chan is uncomfortable with that characterization, but she would take Chea to doctor’s appointments, help with applications and liaise with her teachers. At times, Chea would even spend nights at Kiyomura Chan’s house when her parents were too busy with work or raising her little brother, Ethan, to pick her up.

During Chea’s freshman year, Tanamachi contacted Kiyomura Chan, initially only as a “connector,” because she wanted to make a film about Asian-American basketball. After a few phone calls, there were some initial conversations to feature Kaitlyn Chen, who also went to Flintridge Prep and then later to Princeton before transferring to UConn this season. But when Kiyomura Chan told Tanamachi about Chea and her family, that became the story.

“In the beginning, I thought that having a camera crew with me 24/7 would be the coolest thing ever,” Chea said. “But super quickly I realized how annoying it was and I kinda wanted to do everything to have them not film me.”

Chea admits to being “super cringed out” when she watched the first cut because of how she saw herself on screen. “I think that I carried myself in a way that I don’t think that I should have,” Chea said.

Who wouldn’t feel embarrassed by watching footage of themselves in high school? To most viewers, though, Chea comes off as “a young teenager being a young teenager,” as Princeton coach Carla Berube put it. Berube added, “She’s an unbelievable kid and we’re so lucky to have her.”

While Home Court is still a “hard watch” for Chea, she said she’s proud of how she matured along the way and has “grown up” even more in college. The yearslong filming process wasn’t always easy, but it was worthwhile. Already, young girls are flocking to her games, both at Princeton and on the road.

“I wanted to be that role model for people that are just like me and didn’t have people to look up to,” Chea said. “There aren’t a lot of Asian Americans in college playing any sport, really. It was super cool knowing that, me coming to Princeton, other people would see that and they could be inspired by it.”

Before the film airs, Chea hopes to lead Princeton to a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, which would tie a program record. The Tigers (21-6) are the No. 2 seed in the Ivy League Women’s Basketball Tournament and right on the bubble for the Big Dance. CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel has them as the one of the last four teams in.

Ivy Madness begins on Friday with the semifinals, in which Princeton will take on Harvard. The Tigers have already beaten the Crimson — another bubble team — twice this season, with one of those wins coming on a Chea buzzer-beater.

“I think we’ve put together a great season, a great resume, so we’ll see,” Berube said. “It would be great to get a few more wins. It would be great to be the auto qualifier and not worry about being on the bubble, but I think we’re playing some great basketball right now.”

If the Tigers are to get in, either by winning the Ivy League Tournament or as an at-large selection, it will be thanks in large part to Chea, who has played more minutes (896), scored more points (334), dished out more assists (97) and made more 3-pointers (54) than anyone else on the team.

Whatever happens between now and Selection Sunday, in some ways Chea has already won.

“For Ashley, the whole goal of bringing her to Flintridge Prep was to give her a very full experience and to open her eyes to a world that might not have been attainable for her anywhere else,” Kiyomura Chan said. “Her growth has been tremendous … every time I talk to her she is just so much wiser and so much more worldly and empathetic. She’s an even better human and teammate now.”

With so much to keep track of for the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament, this is the perfect time to look at some of the major storylines from the season, as well as some interesting facts about the Big Dance.

Selection Sunday takes place this Sunday, and CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel has determined the No. 1 seeds are all locked up. Beyond that, plenty of intrigue should emerge across the field.

Women’s Bracketology: UCLA retakes top position as No. 1 seeds are locked up
Connor Groel
Women’s Bracketology: UCLA retakes top position as No. 1 seeds are locked up
March Madness begins with the First Four on March 19-20. The champion will be crowned in Amalie Arena in Tampa on April 6.

With the Big Dance rapidly approaching, here’s everything you need to know to be prepared for the action.

25 things to know ahead of 2025 NCAAWT
1
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Bruins
UCLA is going to be a No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. The Bruins have never won an NCAA Tournament, and they have only made it to the Elite Eight in 1999 and 2018. This is their first season with 30+ wins, and it happened in their inaugural season in the Big Ten.
2
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Huskies
UConn holds the record for most national championships with 11, all under coach Geno Auriemma. The Huskies haven’t won it all since 2016, but they typically made deep runs. UConn has made 15 of the last 16 Final Fours.
3
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Huskies
UConn star Paige Bueckers is likely playing her last NCAA Tournament before heading to the WNBA, where she is expected to be the No. 1 overall draft pick. Bueckers was part of the UConn team that reached the 2022 national championship game, but she is still chasing her first national title.
4
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Gamecocks
South Carolina won last year’s national championship and completed an undefeated season in the process. Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks have won two of the last three NCAA Tournaments and are considered a budding dynasty.
5
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Gamecocks
The No. 1 seeds earned their status by playing the best opponents. South Carolina had the toughest strength of schedule this season, according to Warren Nolan. Texas had the second toughest, while USC had the fourth and UCLA had the sixth.
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Lady Volunteers
Tennessee has the longest active streak of appearances in the Big Dance. The Lady Vols are the only team to play in every single Women’s NCAA tournament since the first in 1982. This will be their 43rd consecutive appearance.
7
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Cardinal
Stanford had the second-longest streak of NCAA Tournament appearances (36), but that is almost certainly ending. The retirement of Tara VanDerveer, conference realignment, and the loss of last season’s top players have sent the Cardinal into rebuilding mode. Losing in the first round of the ACC Tournament sealed their unfortunate fate.
8
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Longhorns
Texas was a No. 1 seed last year and made it all the way to the Elite Eight. The Longhorns are a No. 1 seed again after getting a share of the SEC regular-season title and making it to the championship game in their inaugural season in the conference. Vic Schaefer’s team was ranked as high as No. 1 in the AP Top 25 this season, which hadn’t happened since 2004.
9
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Lady Techsters
The first NCAA men’s basketball tournament was held in 1939 with Oregon as the inaugural champion. The first Women’s NCAA Tournament was in 1982, and it was won by Louisiana Tech. LSU coach Kim Mulkey was part of that roster.
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Lady Tigers
Mulkey is the only person in college basketball history, men’s or women’s, to win national championships as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Her most recent trophy was in 2023, when the Tigers earned the first basketball national title in school history.
11
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Lady Tigers
LSU fell to Texas in the 2025 SEC semifinals, but it happened while leading scorer Flau’Jae Johnson sat out so she could recover from shin inflammation. Johnson will be available for the Big Dance, and so will double-double machine Aneesah Morrow, who had an injury scare during the Texas game. The Tigers won the 2023 national championship and made it to the Elite Eight last season behind the leadership of now-Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.
12
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Trojans
USC won the NCAA Tournament twice in the 1980s, but the Trojans had not made a deep run in decades until reaching the Elite Eight last year. JuJu Watkins helped revitalize the team while breaking the all-time Division I freshman scoring record. As a sophomore, she is considered one of the top candidates for Player of the Year along with UCLA’s Lauren Betts and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo.
13
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Commodores
Vanderbilt made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade last year, and now the Commodores have one of the most exciting freshmen this season in Mikayla Blakes. She has registered two 50+ point games, including 55 points to set the NCAA freshman record in the Commodores’ 98-88 win over Auburn on Feb. 16.
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Horned Frogs
TCU is back in the tournament for the first time since 2010 after winning both the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles. Mark Campbell took over the program in 2023, and the addition of LSU transfer Hailey Van Lith gave the Horned Frogs the extra push they needed to level up.
15
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Beavers
The Oregon State Beavers experienced the collapse of the Pac-12, and their 2024 Elite Eight roster took a huge hit because of the transfer portal. They’ve lost 15 games this season and were almost written off an NCAA Tournament berth. However, they gave us a feel-good story by winning the WCC tournament and earning an automatic bid despite all the struggles.
16
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Hawkeyes
Iowa has reached the title game the past two years, but it happened with Division I all-time leading scorer Caitlin Clark, who is now in the WNBA. Longtime coach Lisa Lisa Bluder retired and now it’s Jan Jensen leading the team in this rebuilding period. These are not the same Hawkeyes as before, but they did stun some solid teams this season, including the USC Trojans in February.
17
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Boilermakers
A Big Ten team has only won the women’s NCAA Tournament once, and it was Purdue in 1999. Maryland and USC have also won it all, but they were in different conferences at the time.
18
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Fighting Irish
Notre Dame has the best backcourt in the nation with Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles, but the Fighting Irish are going through a bit of a slump having lost three of their past five games. They weren’t able to defend their ACC Tournament title as they fell to Duke in the semifinals.
19
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Wildcats
Kentucky missed the Big Dance the past two years, but the Wildcats are back under the guidance of first-year coach Kenny Brooks. Brooks took Virginia Tech to the Final Four in 2023 and Georgia Amoore, who followed Brooks to Kentucky, was a key part of that run.
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Tar Heels
In women’s basketball, No. 14-16 seeds are a combined 1-360 in Women’s NCAA Tournament history. The lowest seed to win the title since the expansion to 64 teams in 1994 is No. 3, and it has only happened three times: North Carolina in 1994, Tennessee in 1997 and LSU in 2023.
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Cardinals
During the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament, higher seeds went 31-1 in the first round. That was the best record by better seeds in the opening round of the tournament since 1994. The only team to fall was No. 6 seed Louisville, who blew an 18-point lead and got upset by No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee, 71-69.
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Gamecocks
Last year was the first time since 2012 that the top No. 1 seeds in the men’s and women’s tournaments (UConn men and South Carolina women) won the title.
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Lady Volunteers
Tampa, Florida is hosting the NCAA Women’s Final Four for a record fourth time. Tennessee won there in 2008, UConn in 2015 and Baylor in 2019.
24
For the first time in women’s college basketball, teams will get paid for participating and advancing in the NCAA Tournament. The men’s tournament has been doing it for years.
25
A total of 66 schools in Division I have never played in the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

It’s time for the bracket to be revealed. The 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament is just about set to get underway, but first, the committee must seed the teams from No. 1 to No. 68. That will all be announced on Sunday night when the teams will learn their fate.

Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks have won two of the last three NCAA Tournaments, but unlike last season when they went undefeated, they have a lot more competition this time around. After the major conference tournaments, it seems the No. 1 seeds have been locked in for South Carolina, UCLA, Texas and USC, as predicted by CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel.

Meanwhile, a loss in the ACC Tournament first round likely means Stanford will be missing the Big Dance for the first time since 1987. The 36-year streak is the second-longest actively running in women’s basketball, behind the Tennessee Lady Vols’ 42 consecutive appearances. Stanford won the 2021 national title, but the Cardinal are currently rebuilding after losing their key players from last season, conference realignment and longtime coach Tara VanDerveer retiring.

Women’s Bracketology: UCLA retakes top position as No. 1 seeds are locked up
Connor Groel
Women’s Bracketology: UCLA retakes top position as No. 1 seeds are locked up
UConn has won the most NCAA Tournaments with 11, the most recent coming in 2016. The Huskies have made 15 of the last 16 Final Fours — including a record-breaking 14 consecutive appearances from 2008-2022.

Where to watch Selection Sunday
When: Sunday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Streaming: fubo (try for free)

A total of 32 teams automatically earn a ticket to the NCAA Tournament by winning their respective conference tournaments. Meanwhile, the rest of the field of 68 will be revealed on Selection Sunday.

The selection committee gives better seeding to those with a better resume. The criteria includes overall record, significant wins, strength of schedule and other factors listed here.

In women’s basketball, the top 16 teams get home-court advantage early in the tournament by hosting first- and second-round games.

It’s been five months in the making, but the day has finally arrived. Welcome to Selection Sunday.

From now on, it’s single elimination with a national championship on the line. And tonight, we’ll find out what the Women’s NCAA Tournament bracket officially looks like.

The No. 1 seeds should be settled: UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and USC. UConn finished the season strong but will most likely end up as the top No. 2 seed.

Notre Dame and TCU should join the Huskies on the No. 2 line, but the final spot on that seed line is up for grabs between ACC Tournament champion Duke and ACC regular-season champion NC State.

2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament: Where to watch Selection Sunday, start time, TV channel for bracket reveal
Isabel Gonzalez
2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament: Where to watch Selection Sunday, start time, TV channel for bracket reveal
The Ivy League has dominated much of the bubble discussion over the last few weeks. Harvard has been the Ivy’s top team in the NET rankings this season but entered the conference tournament as just the No. 3 seed.

However, Harmoni Turner scored a combined 68 points in wins over Columbia and Princeton to secure an automatic berth and a projected No. 10 seed in the Big Dance.

A three-bid Ivy League is still possible, but our final projections have Columbia in the last four in and Princeton as the first team out.

The beneficiary to Princeton’s semifinal loss in the Ivy League Tournament is Colorado, a team hoping that huge Quad-1 wins over Kansas State and West Virginia are enough to prop up a shaky resume overall.

Outside of Princeton, the next-likeliest teams currently on the outside looking in are James Madison, which dominated the Sun Belt all season before losing the conference championship game, and Virginia Tech, which went .500 in a strong ACC but has just one Quad-1 win.

Any team outside of those three that jumps into the field would be a real surprise.

Here is our final projected field of 68, with just hours until the reveal.

NET and SOS data is accurate as of Sunday morning. Double asterisks (**) represent teams who have won their conference tournaments.

Conference tournaments have concluded after a thrilling stretch of games, and we officially know 32 teams from the field of 68 for the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament.

Per usual, the UConn Huskies got the job done in the Big East with their fifth consecutive trophy since rejoining the conference. That was the program’s 30th conference tournament title — the most in Division I history. Conference realignment shook things up a bit this year, and the UCLA Bruins earned the Big Ten Tournament title in their first season with the conference by getting revenge over USC.

2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament: Where to watch Selection Sunday, start time, TV channel for bracket reveal
Isabel Gonzalez
2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament: Where to watch Selection Sunday, start time, TV channel for bracket reveal
Meanwhile, William & Mary earned the school’s first ever NCAA Tournament berth in men’s or women’s basketball after a comeback victory over Campbell in the CAA title game just hours before Selection Sunday festivities.

Oregon State, one of just two teams left from the Pac-12, gave us another feel good story by getting back to the NCAA Tournament after winning the West Coast Conference tournament. The Beavers made the Elite Eight in 2024, but there were doubts about them dancing this year because they took a huge hit in the transfer portal.

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The 2025 NCAA Women’s College Basketball Tournament will start with the First Four on March 19. The West Regional Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds will take place at Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington. Meanwhile, the East Regional will be at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Both events will run March 28-31.

The Final Four and national championship game will take place at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, the weekend of April 4-6.

The bracket for the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament was revealed on Sunday. UCLA received the No. 1 overall seed for the first time in school history, while South Carolina, Texas and USC also ended up on the 1-line.

On the flip side, Columbia, Washington, Iowa State and Princeton were the last four teams in and will tip-off this year’s festivities with the First Four, which begins on Wednesday night. From there, it will be a sprint to crown a new national champion.

Now that the bracket has been revealed and the matchups are set, let’s take a look at some winners and losers from Selection Sunday.

Women’s March Madness 2025: Printable NCAA Tournament bracket with Elite Eight action about to get underway
CBS Sports Staff
Women’s March Madness 2025: Printable NCAA Tournament bracket with Elite Eight action about to get underway
Winners
UCLA

UCLA started the season 23-0 and was ranked No. 1 in the country for nearly three months in a row. Then they lost to USC twice in the span of two weeks, which cost them the Big Ten regular season title, and put their hopes of earning the No. 1 overall seed in jeopardy.

But come conference championship Sunday, Texas lost to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament title game, and UCLA got revenge over USC to win the Big Ten Tournament. All of a sudden, everything flipped. The Bruins vaulted back up to No. 1 in the final AP poll, and on Sunday were announced as the No. 1 overall seed.

This is the first time in program history that the Bruins are a No. 1 seed, let alone the top overall seed. They’re still searching for the first Final Four appearance in program history and have a good chance to end that drought this year. A first national championship certainly isn’t out of the question either.

Ivy League

The Ivy League was ecstatic to earn two bids last year when Princeton, who won Ivy Madness, was joined by Columbia as an at-large selection. That marked the first time since 2016 that the Ivy League, known more for its academics than basketball, had multiple teams make the Big Dance.

They outdid themselves this year. For the first time in conference history, the Ivy League has three teams reach the NCAA Tournament.

Harvard won Ivy Madness to earn the automatic bid, and is a No. 10 seed in the Spokane 1 region. Columbia, who won the regular season title, and Princeton both had to sweat it out on the bubble, but received No. 11 seeds in the Birmingham 2 and Birmingham 3 region, respectively. The Lions and Tigers will both have to go through the First Four process, but that’s better than sitting at home.

Only the four major conferences, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC got more schools into the tournament than the Ivy League, who even outdid the Big East.

Arkansas State, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, Grand Canyon, San Diego and William & Mary.

Entering the season, there were 68 teams that had never made it to the NCAA Tournament. That number has dropped to 62 after six teams officially got their tickets punched on Sunday: Arkansas State, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, Grand Canyon, San Diego and William & Mary.

All six teams were automatic qualifiers after winning their respective conference tournaments. Here’s a quick look at how they got here and where they now stand:

Arkansas State (Sun Belt)
The Red Wolves defeated James Madison (one of the biggest snubs) in overtime in the Sun Belt title game. They are a No. 15 seed in the Spokane 4 region and will face 11-time national champion UConn in the first round.

Fairleigh Dickinson (NEC)
The Knights, who are on a 22-game winning streak, cruised past Stonehill to win the NEC Tournament title. They received a No. 15 seed in the Birmingham 3 region, where they’ll meet TCU in the first round.

George Mason (A-10)
The Patriots lost to St Joseph’s twice during the regular season, but beat them in the A-10 title game to earn their first NCAA tourney trip. They are a No. 11 seed in the Spokane 1 region and will face Florida State in the first round.

Grand Canyon (WAC)
The Antelopes pulled off a big comeback to take down UT-Arlington in the WAC championship game and will take a 30-game winning streak into the Big Dance. They are a No. 13 seed in the Spokane 1 region, where they’ll take on Baylor.

San Diego (Big West)
The Tritons are dancing after taking down in-state rivals UC-Davis in the Big West title game. A No. 16 seed, they’ll face Southern in the First Four, and if they win that game they’ll move on to No. 1 overall seed UCLA in the Spokane 1 region.

William & Mary (CAA)
The Tribe are the biggest surprise entrant into the field. Despite finishing the regular season under .500, they caught fire in the CAA Tournament and pulled off a 14-point comeback in the title game against Campbell. They are also a No. 16 seed and were placed in the First Four. They’ll take on High Point, with the winner meeting Texas in the Birmingham 3 region.

Winner and loser
South Carolina

The Gamecocks had a strong case to be the No. 1 overall seed after closing the regular season strong and dominating the SEC Tournament, including a 19-point win over Texas — another No. 1 seed — in the title game. Instead, the selection committee favored UCLA and South Carolina was the second overall seed.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley wasn’t thrilled.

“I will say this. We’re gonna make adjustments to our schedule in the future if the standard is the standard,” Staley said. “If that’s the standard then we can play any schedule and get a No. 1 seed.”

South Carolina had the toughest strength of schedule in the country, but UCLA crushed them when the two teams met in November, which carries a lot of weight.

While the Gamecocks didn’t get the honor of being named the No. 1 overall seed, you can make a case that they got treated like it with their path to the Final Four. No one in their region will scare them, especially considering they already beat Duke (No. 2) and Alabama (No. 5) by double digits this season.

Losers
Notre Dame

Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 in the country a month ago, and seemed like a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but they collapsed down the stretch. They lost three of their last five games, including a double-overtime heartbreaker to NC State and an ACC Tournament semifinal to Duke.

Come Sunday, the Fighting Irish were announced as a No. 3 seed in the Birmingham 3 region, while both NC State and Duke received No. 2 seeds. If they had won even one of those matchups, the Fighting Irish would likely have been on the 2-line. To make matters worse, the No. 2 seed in Notre Dame’s region, TCU, has already beaten them this season.

The Fighting Irish can still get to the Final Four, and possibly even win it all, if they can get their star backcourt of Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles back on track. Due to their late-season struggles, though, they have a tougher road than they would have liked.

Colorado, James Madison and Virginia Tech

There wasn’t a deep bubble this year, but a few teams were still holding out hope that they would hear their name called on Sunday evening. Perhaps most notably, Colorado, Virginia Tech and James Madison did not receive good news.

Colorado (Big 12): 20-12, NET 58, SOS 53
CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel had the Buffaloes as the last team in on his final bracket on Sunday afternoon, but it was not to be. Colorado had some impressive wins over the likes of West Virginia and Kansas State, and even made a run to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, but that was not enough to overcome their poor close to the season in which they lost six of their final 10 games.

James Madison (Sun Belt): 28-5, NET 55, SOS 105
The Dukes went undefeated in Sun Belt regular season play but were stunned in overtime by Arkansas State in the conference’s tournament title game. With 28 wins to their name there was a slim chance that they could still sneak in as an at-large selection, but the committee was unable to overlook their poor strength of schedule.

Virginia Tech (ACC): 18-12, NET 46, SOS 47
Despite a devastating offseason in which they lost coach Kenny Brooks and star players Georgia Amoore, Elizabeth Kitley and Clara Strack, the Hokies put together a solid campaign. They were just 3-8 against other tournament teams, though, and ultimately that’s not good enough, especially when all but one of those defeats was by double digits.

UCLA will enter the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed as well as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25. The rest of the No. 1 seeds — South Carolina, Texas and USC — are in the top five.

The UConn Huskies, who were given a No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament, are staying at No. 3 this week.

Since most of the major conference tournaments were already over by last Monday, there were hardly any changes in the AP rankings this week. The only movement is Creighton dropping down one spot to No. 23 after falling to UConn in the Big East championship game. Florida State, who lost to North Carolina in the ACC quarterfinals, moved up one spot to replace the Bluejays.

Women’s March Madness 2025: Printable NCAA Tournament bracket with Elite Eight action about to get underway
CBS Sports Staff
Women’s March Madness 2025: Printable NCAA Tournament bracket with Elite Eight action about to get underway
This was the last AP Top 25 before the NCAA Tournament begins. The will be no more rankings released until a champion is crowned in Tampa Bay, Fla. on April 6.

In this last poll before the Big Dance tips off, the SEC is well represented with eight ranked teams. The ACC and Big 12 have five each, and the Big Ten has four.

The four No. 1 seeds for the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament were not surprising, but not everyone was happy with the overall seeding order chosen by the selection committee.

Despite being a No. 1 seed for the fifth consecutive year, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley had questions about how the decisions were made and why her team’s strength of schedule wasn’t enough to earn the Gamecocks the top overall spot — an honor given to UCLA for the first time in program history.

Meanwhile, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said she felt her team was “disrespected” because the Trojans are fourth overall, behind the Texas Longhorns.

2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament bracket: Ranking all 68 teams in March Madness, from UCLA to William & Mary
Isabel Gonzalez
2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament bracket: Ranking all 68 teams in March Madness, from UCLA to William & Mary
“I am not in the (selection) room, but obviously I think we did much more than probably any other No. 1 overall seed,” Staley said after Sunday’s bracket reveal. “We outdid ourselves even from last year with the amount of quality wins that we had, but I guess the committee was looking at something else.”

The Gamecocks had the toughest strength of schedule and got the most Quad 1 wins in all of Division l. However, they dropped to second in NET rankings after suffering a lopsided 87-58 loss to UConn in February.

“We’re going to play it, (but) obviously it’s disappointing,” Staley said. “I’d like to get some feedback on how they came to that conclusion because we put together, we manufactured a schedule that if done right, it should produce the overall No. 1 seed. But I will say this, we’re going to make adjustments to our schedule in the future if the standard is the standard. If that’s the standard, we can play any schedule and get the No. 1 seed.”

Gottlieb also said she “would love to ask some questions” because she arrived to Selection Sunday thinking there was “very little chance” her team would be the final No. 1 seed announced. Now, her Trojans could potentially face No. 2 seed UConn in the Elite Eight of the Spokane 4 region. The Huskies beat USC during the 2024 Elite Eight and have made 15 of the last 16 Final Fours.

“I never thought I’d be a 1-seed and feel disrespected,” Gottlieb said. “… You know we’ve got a big game here on Saturday against UNCG and we’ll handle it accordingly, but you tell me if you think that bracket that we got should’ve been the one that it was. I can’t speak for the players, I think they’re excited to play, but this was not on my bingo card to be a little bit frustrated after being a 1-seed, and it’s not an arrogance of any kind.

“I think there’s a lot of good teams and you’ve gotta play the first game in front of you and earn your way form there and that’s what we’ll do. But sometimes I don’t understand people who make decisions in women’s basketball and why they do what they do, and certainly with this committee I would love to ask some questions.”

That being said, the show must go on and the teams need to get ready for their respective matchups. South Carolina is chasing its third national title in four years, and that journey begins Friday against Tennessee Tech. Meanwhile, USC is trying to win the trophy for the first time since 1984. The Trojans play their first game Saturday against UNC Greensboro.

CBS Sports will have you covered throughout the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament. Get your printable bracket here, plus check out these 25 things to know ahead of the Big Dance.