TAMPA, Fla. — The 2025 women’s Final Four has arrived at last, with four heavyweights — a No. 2 seed and a trio of 1-seeds — clashing in Friday’s national semifinals.
The first game (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) features an SEC showdown between the Texas Longhorns and South Carolina Gamecocks, who have already faced off three times this season. The defending NCAA champion Gamecocks went 2-1 against the Longhorns, who are in their first Final Four since 2003.
The UCLA Bruins and UConn Huskies (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) aren’t as familiar with each other, last meeting in November 2023 during a Cayman Islands Thanksgiving event. The Bruins won that meeting, but UConn holds a 7-1 advantage in the series. The Bruins are appearing in their first NCAA Final Four, while the Huskies have played in 16 of the past 17 and 24 overall.
But players and coaches said Thursday that history has little if any bearing on the present. ESPN takes a look at the matchups, picks the winners and predicts which team will be cutting down the nets after Sunday’s title game (3 p.m. ET, ABC).
UCLA feels like it’s being overlooked despite being the No. 1 overall seed. Are the Bruins underdogs?
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