The games have gotten bigger, more competitive and exciting, but chalk remains the writing utensil of choice as the 2025 women’s NCAA tournament shifts to the Elite Eight.
UConn, TCU and UCLA Bruins rode big performances by their stars — Paige Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith and Lauren Betts, respectively. South Carolina, Duke and Texas leaned into defense. USC somehow overcame the loss of star JuJu Watkins. And LSU got production from an unlikely source.
That leaves us with three 1 vs. 2 matchups and one 1 vs. 3 in the regional finals, which feature many of the big-time matchups that were anticipated when the bracket was announced two weeks ago.
That also makes the rankings of the final eight teams that much more difficult, but we took our shot.
1. UConn Huskies
Original seed: No. 2 (Spokane 4)
Tournament results: 103-34 vs. No. 15 Arkansas State (first round); 91-57 vs. No. 10 South Dakota State (round of 32); 82-59 over No. 3 Oklahoma (Sweet 16)
With all that Bueckers has accomplished with the Huskies, it’s hard to believe that she just had the greatest two-game stretch in her career and the greatest back-to-back NCAA tournament games in UConn…
