No one is officially credited with coining the phrase “your first instinct is your best,” but whoever came up with it might have been a college basketball fan. Nothing captures the essence of picking your best possible NCAA tournament bracket quite like going with that first instinct.
Trust yourself. Go with your gut. You’ve put the time in. You know the teams. Let it rip and don’t look back. Turn in that March Madness bracket on Sunday night, not Tuesday morning. From the first men’s bracket I filled out as a young fan after carefully cutting it out of the newspaper and hanging it on the pantry door to this moment right now, this process was done in one sitting.
That’s what I have done here. I saw the bracket, quickly examined it and started filling in my winners — in pen — to come up with a true Instant Bracket.
Here are my picks for every game of the 2025 women’s NCAA tournament.
Jump to: Spokane 1 Region | Birmingham 2 Region | Birmingham 3 Region | Spokane 4 Region | Final Four
First Four
SPOKANE 1 REGION
No. 16 UC San Diego Toreros 60, No. 16 Southern Jaguars 58
BIRMINGHAM 2 REGION
No. 11 Columbia Lions 76, No. 11 Washington Huskies 72
BIRMINGHAM 3 REGION
No. 16 High Point Panthers 55, No. 16 William & Mary Tribe 52
No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones 80, No. 11 Princeton Tigers 68
Spokane 1
FIRST ROUND PICKS
No. 1 UCLA Bruins 90, No. 16 UC San Diego 55
No. 8 Richmond Spiders 64, No. 9 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 63
No. 5 Ole Miss Rebels 54, No. 12 Ball State Cardinals 42
No. 4 Baylor Bears 80, No. 13 Grand Canyon Lopes 74
No. 11 George Mason Patriots 74, No. 6 Florida State Seminoles 71
No. 3 LSU Tigers 90, No. 14 San Diego State Aztecs 59
No. 10 Harvard Crimson 62, No. 7 Michigan State Spartans 60
No. 2 NC State Wolfpack 89, No. 15 Vermont Catamounts 56
SECOND ROUND PICKS
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No. 1 UCLA 84, No. 8 Richmond 68
No. 4 Baylor 68, No. 5 Ole Miss 67
No. 3 LSU 84, No. 11 George Mason 72
No. 2 NC State 80, No. 10 Harvard 60
SWEET 16 PICKS
No. 1 UCLA 71, No. 4 Baylor 64
No. 3 LSU 80, No. 2 NC State 78
ELITE EIGHT PICK
No. 1 UCLA 69, No. 3 LSU 66
REGION ANALYSIS:
As the No. 1 overall seed, the Bruins have a favorable path. Only Baylor’s Aaronette Vonleh and Florida State’s Makayla Timpson have the size to match up with 6-foot-7 Bruins center Lauren Betts. A potential LSU-NC State regional semifinal matchup might be one of the best games in the entire tournament if the Tigers are completely healthy. The injury to Flau’Jae Johnson that forced her to miss the SEC tournament and the foot injury Aneesah Morrow suffered in the SEC tournament semifinals will be crucial — keep an eye out for updates.
LSU and UCLA met in the regional semifinals last season and could match up again in the regional final.
Watch A-10 champ George Mason and Ivy League champ Harvard as potential lower seeds to win first-round games.
Dawn Staley ‘surprised’ South Carolina wasn’t No. 1 overall seed
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley makes the case for why her team should have been the top overall seed in the women’s NCAA tournament.
Birmingham 2
FIRST ROUND PICKS
No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks 91, No. 16 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 47
No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers 62, No. 8 Utah Utes 48
No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide 70, No. 12 Green Bay Phoenix 56
No. 4 Maryland Terrapins 75, No. 13 Norfolk State Spartans 48
No. 6 West Virginia Mountaineers 68, No. 11 Columbia Lions 56
No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels 74, No. 14 Oregon State Beavers 54
No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores 88, No. 10 Oregon Ducks 71
No. 2 Duke Blue Devils 80, No. 15 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 52
SECOND ROUND PICKS
No. 1 South Carolina 76, No. 9 Indiana 58
No. 4 Maryland 62, No. 5 Alabama 57
No. 3 North Carolina 55, No. 6 West Virginia 51
No. 2 Duke 74, No. 7 Vanderbilt 68
SWEET 16 PICKS
No. 1 South Carolina 80, No. 4 Maryland
No. 2 Duke 72, No. 3 North Carolina 68
ELITE EIGHT PICK
No. 1 South Carolina 81, No. 2 Duke 70
REGION ANALYSIS:
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South Carolina might feel slighted for not being the No. 1 overall seed, but Dawn Staley generally doesn’t need extra motivation. The Gamecocks should still roll into the regional finals; their matchups in the early rounds are favorable.
Duke and North Carolina could be on a collision course. Their regional semifinal matchup would mark their third meeting this season. The Blue Devils come in hot after winning the ACC tournament, and a trip to the Elite Eight would be their first under coach Kara Lawson and first for the program since 2013. Duke’s potential meeting with Vanderbilt in the second round could be a fun matchup pitting the Commodores’ high-scoring freshman Mikayla Blakes against the Duke defense.
Birmingham 3
FIRST ROUND PICKS
No. 1 Texas Longhorns 84, No. 16 High Point Panthers 40
No. 9 Creighton Bluejays 64, No. 8 Illinois Fighting Illini 62
No. 5 Tennessee Lady Volunteers 85, No. 12 South Florida Bulls 57
No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes 71, No. 13 Montana State Bobcats 62
No. 6 Michigan Wolverines 72, No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones 68
No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 80, No. 14 SFA Ladyjacks 52
No. 7 Louisville Cardinals 62, No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers 58
No. 2 TCU Horned Frogs 73, No. 15 FDU Knights 41
SECOND ROUND PICKS
No. 1 Texas 90, No. 9 Creighton 58
No. 5 Tennessee 74, No. 4 Ohio State 72
No. 3 Notre Dame 82, No. 6 Michigan 68
No. 2 TCU 72, Louisville 59
SWEET 16 PICKS
No. 1 Texas 74, No. 5 Tennessee 69
No. 3 Notre Dame 78, No. 2 TCU 64
ELITE EIGHT PICK
No. 3 Notre Dame 69, No. 1 Texas 64
REGION ANALYSIS:
No. 1 seed Texas will be challenged getting to Tampa: Tennessee or Ohio State, two teams that love to press, lurk in the regionals, with Notre Dame or TCU waiting at the bottom of the bracket. The Longhorns’ offense can struggle, and they already lost to Notre Dame earlier this year. I predict that happens again.
A potential TCU-Louisville second-round game would see Hailey Van Lith playing against her first college team, where she had a great deal of NCAA tournament success. She should get the better of this one. The Horned Frogs should have too much firepower for the Cardinals.
TCU beat the Irish earlier this season, but Notre Dame has turned the corner from its late-season struggles enough to advance this far. The Irish should be able to exact revenge and reach the Final Four for the first time under Niele Ivey.
Spokane 4
FIRST ROUND PICKS
No. 1 USC Trojans 88, No. 16 UNC Greensboro Spartans 39
No. 9 Mississippi State Bulldogs 76, No. 8 California Golden Bears 74
No. 12 Fairfield Stags 68, No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats 62
No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats 87, No. 13 Liberty Flames 62
No. 11 Murray State Racers 92, No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes 89
No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners 86, No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 58
No. 10 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 70, No. 7 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 69
No. 2 UConn Huskies 81, No. 15 Arkansas State Red Wolves 57
SECOND ROUND PICKS
No. 1 USC 90, No. 9 Mississippi State 64
No. 4 Kentucky 80, No. 12 Fairfield 54
No. 3 Oklahoma 94, No. 11 Murray State 82
No. 2 UConn 92, No. 10 South Dakota State 67
SWEET 16 PICKS
No. 1 USC 80, No. 4 Kentucky 72
No. 2 UConn 81, No. 3 Oklahoma 67
ELITE EIGHT PICK
No. 2 UConn 78, No. 1 USC 71
REGION ANALYSIS:
Perhaps the most unfortunate part of the entire bracket is seeing USC and UConn in the same region. These two matched up last season in the Elite Eight, with UConn winning. It would have been even more fun in the Final Four, with JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers potentially on the same floor. Never bet against UConn’s experience, so instead, the Huskies are the pick to reach Tampa.
Check out Murray State, which has put on an offensive showcase as the top scoring team in the country.
South Dakota State and Fairfield have been two of the nation’s best mid-majors for the past couple of years and could both get to the second round with upset wins.
After going undefeated to win the 2024 NCAA title, will Bree Hall, Chloe Kitts and Sania Feagin help South Carolina run it back for this season’s national championship? Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
Final Four (Tampa)
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
No. 2 (Spokane 4) UConn 81, No. 1 (Spokane 1) UCLA 67
No. 1 (Birmingham 2) South Carolina 72, No. 3 (Birmingham 3) Notre Dame 67
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
South Carolina 72, UConn 70
ANALYSIS:
UConn and South Carolina are the two most successful NCAA tournament teams in recent memory, and that will play out again with each reaching the championship game. They met earlier this season, when the Huskies beat the Gamecocks by 29 points on Feb. 16 in Columbia, South Carolina. That result won’t repeat itself. This will be a much more competitive game. And it will be a better game than when these two programs met in the 2022 national championship game. But the result will be the same: South Carolina will celebrate an NCAA title for a second straight year and for the third time in four seasons.
