March Madness: UCLA, South
Carolina, USC, Texas are No. 1 seeds in women's NCAA Tournament
[March 17, 2025]
By DOUG FEINBERG
UCLA had one of the best seasons in school history and was rewarded
with the top overall seed in the women's NCAA Tournament.
The Bruins were joined by South Carolina, Southern California and
Texas as the No. 1 seeds that the NCAA revealed Sunday night.
It's the first time in school history that the Bruins are the top
team in the tournament. They had two losses on the season, both of
which came to the Trojans.
“It’s a testament to how hard everyone in this program has worked.
An overall No. 1 seed doesn’t get us to the Final Four, doesn’t get
us to a national championship," UCLA guard Kiki Rice said. "We have
to go out there and earn it.”
One of UCLA's wins this season came over South Carolina. The
Gamecocks' coach, Dawn Staley, felt her team should have gotten the
top seed and with it the extra day of rest if they advance to the
Final Four.
“I mean I’m a little bit surprised because we manufactured our
schedule and put ourselves in position to be the No. 1 overall
seed," she said. "Do the blind test and put our resume against any
other team in the field, you’d pick us. It’s plain and simple."
Unlike last year, when the Gamecocks finished off an undefeated
season with a national title, this team has three losses heading
into March Madness.
“Two key factors between UCLA and South Carolina. One was the
head-to-head matchup,” NCAA selection committee chair Derita Dawkins
said. “The other was one of our criteria is competitive in losses
and South Carolina suffered a 29-point loss to UConn. Those were the
two key differences in those resumes.”
Staley’s team is looking to be the first team to repeat as champion
since UConn won four straight from 2013-16. The Huskies, who are a
two-seed, are looking to end that drought with star Paige Bueckers.
They’ll have to go out west if they reach the Sweet 16 and a
potential rematch with JuJu Watkins and the Trojans could be waiting
in the Elite Eight.
The path won’t be easy for anyone: This year there’s more parity in
the sport. This NCAA Tournament will be only the second one in the
past 19 years to have no teams entering March Madness with zero or
one loss. The other time was in 2022.
The Trojans and Bruins, newcomers in the Big Ten this season, will
try to win the first national championship for the conference since
1999, when Purdue won the lone one. A record 12 teams from the Big
Ten are in the field. The SEC has 10 and the ACC eight. The Big 12
has seven.
The Ivy League received three bids to the tournament for the first
time in conference history. Last season, Columbia earned the second
at-large bid in league history. The Lions are back again as well as
Princeton. Both are 11 seeds and will be competing in play-in games.
Harvard, which won the conference tournament, is a 10 seed.
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UCLA guard Kiki Rice (1) drives the ball as Southern California
guard Malia Samuels (10) works around a screen by Lauren Betts (51)
during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the
championship of the Big Ten Conference tournament in Indianapolis,
Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Duke, TCU and N.C. State joined the Huskies on the
2-seed line. Notre Dame boasts wins over Texas, USC and UConn but
slumped the last few weeks of the regular season and fell to a
three-seed.
William & Mary is one of six teams set to make its first appearance
in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The others are Arkansas State,
Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, Grand Canyon and UC San Diego.
Four teams are headed to the men’s tournament for the first time:
High Point, Omaha, SIU Edwardsville and UC San Diego.
The Tribe (15-18) are the first sub-.500 team since Incarnate Word
in 2022 to make the tournament.
Virginia Tech, James Madison, Saint Joseph's and Colorado were the
first four teams left out of the field.
Payout time
For the first time in NCAA history, there will be a financial
incentive for women's teams. They will finally be paid for playing
games in the NCAA Tournament just like the men have for years.
So-called performance units, which represent revenue, will be given
to women’s teams for each win they get. A team that reaches the
Final Four could bring its conference roughly $1.26 million over the
next three years in financial performance rewards.
This comes a year after the women's championship game that saw South
Carolina beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa do better TV ratings than the
men's title game.
Tournament sites
The top 16 seeds in the 68-team field will host first- and
second-round games, with the regional rounds being played at two
neutral sites for the third straight year. Spokane, Washington, will
host half of the Sweet 16 and Birmingham, Alabama, will host the
other eight teams.
The Final Four will be played in Tampa, Florida, on April 4, and the
championship game is two days later.
Tournament tidbits
One team that didn't make the field was Stanford, which ended the
Cardinal's 36-year streak of playing in the NCAA Tournament. It's
the first time since 1987 that Stanford won't play in the NCAAs.
While that streak is over, Tennessee continued its NCAA Tournament
run of appearing every year in the field since the first NCAA
Tournament in 1982. The Lady Vols are a five-seed.
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