Another Big Dance, another round of women’s NCAA basketball tournament predictions.

However, this year brings Big Blue Nation an exciting twist to the fold; the Kentucky Wildcats (22-7) have earned a place in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. Furthermore, UK impressed the Selection Committee so much that the Wildcats earned a top-16 overall seed, granting them the privilege of playing host to first- and second-round games for the seventh time in program history.

While I’m still working on the trademark for Makauskas Madness, here’s a breakdown of my NCAA Tournament predictions:

Final Four

No. 1 seed UCLA. The Bruins (30-2) secured the top-overall seed after a season that saw four teams — UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Texas — claim the No. 1 ranking at varying points in the Associated Press Top 25. The development of national player of the year and Lisa Leslie Award candidate Lauren Betts, with a team-high 19.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per contest, in two seasons under Cori Close (after a rather quiet freshman campaign at Stanford) has skyrocketed. The star center’s growth, not to mention the leadership of Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez, has given the Bruins their best shot at a Final Four berth in the NCAA era.

No. 2 Connecticut. After being the dominant force in women’s college basketball for many years under Geno Auriemma, he and the Huskies (31-3) haven’t been able to add a 12th national championship trophy to their hardware due to consistent injuries — despite advancing to the Final Four six times since their last title in 2016. Despite landing on the two-line, Connecticut is as dangerous as ever. Paige Bueckers, presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, is healthy and taking care of business, leading the Huskies with 19.0 points and 4.9 assists per game, while star freshman Sarah Strong (the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2024) leads the team in rebounds (8.4), steals (2.4) and blocks (1.6) per contest. Toss in a healthy Azzi Fudd and a well-rounded cast of supporting characters, and UConn appears poised to make another deep run.

No. 1 South Carolina. The defending national champion Gamecocks (30-3) look quite different from last season. To put it plainly, who cares? Dawn Staley has navigated graduation and WNBA draft selections, and continues to develop high school recruits and transfers alike to maintain South Carolina’s standing among the upper crust of the Southeastern Conference and beyond. Despite a season-ending injury to starting forward Ashlyn Watkins, and this season seeing the end to multiple Gamecocks win streaks, the fact is experience never hurts in March; and South Carolina knows exactly how it feels to not only embark upon the journey of a No. 1 seed, but how to come out on top, too. Well-balanced and deep, the Gamecocks are sure to get consistent, big-time performances from several of its stars, from freshman forward Joyce Edwards’ team-high 13.2 points per game to Chloe Kitts’ key 10.1 points and 7.9 rebounds.

No. 3 Notre Dame. I’ll be honest with you — I was among the many who were surprised to see the Fighting Irish (26-5) end up as a No. 3 seed. Sure, co-ACC regular-season champion Notre Dame had a rocky end to the year, dropping three of its final five contests and falling to eventual ACC Tournament champion Duke in the semifinals. But this is a team with tremendous guard play, guided by the vision of Niele Ivey, and four scorers averaging double figures, including a double-double of 11.2 points and 10.4 rebounds from Liatu King. In my mind, the selection committee has handed the Fighting Irish, led by sophomore star Hannah Hidalgo’s 24.2 points and 3.7 steals per game, hosting privileges and a chip on their shoulder — and the rest of the teams in their regional should be on high alert.

Coach Dawn Staley again has the defending national champions from South Carolina positioned as a No. 1 seed entering this year’s NCAA Tournament. flm

Hannah Hidalgo (3) and Notre Dame were ranked No. 1 at various points throughout the regular season before a slight fade at the end. The Fighting Irish look underrated and disrespected as a No. 3 seed. Eileen T. Meslar TNS

National champion

UCLA over Notre Dame. I know, I know. It’s supremely difficult to pick against Staley in March. And yet, here I am, doing just that. In a season with so much parity and excitement, I found myself occasionally wishing for a South Carolina-Notre Dame matchup, going back and forth on which I felt was the best team in the country — a fun, notable shift from recent years. I won’t be shocked if South Carolina takes down the Fighting Irish, or Texas or whoever else may emerge from the tricky Birmingham 3 Regional. But, regardless of that right side of the bracket, I do think this is the Bruins’ year. One of my first major assignments in this industry took me to cover the 2022 McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago, where Rice and Jaquez split MVP honors. I remember thinking how big a recruiting win it was for Close and her staff, to have reeled in these two dynamic guards, on top of signing Londynn Jones, the No. 22 prospect in the class, and Christeen Iwuala, the No. 49 recruit. Ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, the Bruins added transfer Lauren Betts, another 2022 McDonald’s All-American and the top recruit in that class. Imagine my surprise when, ahead of this season, the Bruins lost Iwuala to the portal (now at Ole Miss), but signed former Oregon State forward Timea Gardiner and former Texas A&M leading scorer Janiah Barker — not just two more top-10 prospects from that class, but also McDonald’s All-Americans, bringing UCLA’s total to five. Close also secured signatures from a few of 2024’s top-tier freshmen to add further depth. Though a five-star is just that until proven success at the college level, the Bruins are overflowing with talent that has been tested and developed through the demise of the Pac-12 and transition to playing in the Big Ten, not to mention testing themselves with matchups against some of the nation’s most formidable programs. Lest we forget, it was the Bruins who ultimately unseated South Carolina from its No. 1 ranking back in November. But UCLA couldn’t manage to get past archrival Southern California during the regular season (0-2), suffering the conference title-clinching defeat at the hand of the Trojans at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA got its revenge — and seemingly solidified its status as the top-overall seed in the eyes of the committee — in the Big Ten Tournament championship, when the Bruins came back from a first-half deficit to claim some hardware of their own. Despite conversations of who really deserves the top-overall seed, or the fact that UCLA has never reached the top of the mountain during the NCAA era, confidence-instilling achievements, such as finally taking a win from USC this year, have the power to push a program to the unprecedented levels of success the Bruins have been chasing for decades.

Commonwealth dancers

Last season, Louisville was the state of Kentucky’s lone representative in the NCAA Tournament. This year, they’re joined in the fray by Kentucky and Murray State.

No. 4 Kentucky. Though Kentucky’s hiring of Kenny Brooks last year was widely considered a massive success, Brooks himself noted that UK director of athletics Mitch Barnhart gave him “a little leeway” when it came to postseason success, that it might take a bit of time to build the program. Turns out, thanks to the leadership efforts of graduate transfers Georgia Amoore and Dazia Lawrence, plus power from sophomore center Clara Strack and junior forward Teonni Key, it didn’t take long at all for the team to return to the national spotlight. The Wildcats, who welcome No. 13 Liberty, No. 12 Fairfield and No. 5 Kansas State to Lexington this weekend, have not advanced to the Sweet Sixteen since 2016, the Elite Eight since 2013 or further, ever.

No. 7 Louisville. The Cardinals (21-10) are set to make their 14th consecutive appearance under Jeff Walz on Friday night, with their fourth all-time meeting with Nebraska, against which Louisville is 1-1 all-time in neutral site matchups and 3-1 overall. After a first-round exit in last year’s NCAA Tournament, Louisville welcomed eight freshmen ahead of this season and opened the year with a rockier start than many expected; the Cardinals lost five of their first 11 contests, including the Battle of the Bluegrass for the first time since 2015. But Louisville found its way, posting 21 wins overall and finishing in the top third of the ACC. For the second year in a row, the selection committee has set up a possible second-round meeting between the Cardinals and former point guard Hailey Van Lith, now leading the way at site host TCU. In order to get there, Louisville will need to rely on the talent and experience of veteran forward Olivia Cochran (10.1 points, 6.7 rebounds), freshman guard Tajianna Roberts (13.1 points, 1.7 steals) and senior guard Jayda Curry (13.4 points, 3.1 assists), the latter of whom has not played since the team’s regular-season finale against Notre Dame.

No. 11 Murray State. Those within the state of Kentucky and beyond should be well aware, the Racers (25-7) are a ton of fun to watch. The No. 51 team in the NET rankings, the Racers emerged victorious out of the Missouri Valley Conference with a league record of 16-4 and a nation-leading 87.8 points per game. Led by 22.2 points (not to mention 6.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals) per game from program all-time leading scorer Katelyn Young, plus double-figure scoring from Halli Poock, Ava Learn and 2023 Miss Kentucky Basketball Haven Ford, the Racers drew reigning national runner-up Iowa, a No. 6 seed, for their second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Murray State will hope to advance to the second round for the first time in program history; the Racers fell to Duke in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore center Clara Strack and the Wildcats host first- and second-round games in Memorial Coliseum this week, opening against Liberty on Friday. Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Upset specials

Anything can happen in March! Here are a few upset selections, listed from safest bet to bigger gamble.

▪ No. 10 Nebraska will edge No. 7 Louisville

▪ No. 11 Murray State will beat No. 6 Iowa

▪ No. 12 South Florida will outlast No. 5 Tennessee

▪ No. 13 Norfolk State will defeat No. 4 Maryland

Friday

Women’s NCAA Tournament games in Lexington

Where: Historic Memorial Coliseum

Noon: No. 4 seed Kentucky vs. No. 13 seed Liberty (ESPN)

About 2:30 p.m.: No. 5 seed Kansas State vs. No. 13 seed Fairfield (ESPNews)

Tickets: All-session and single-session tickets for the three games in Memorial Coliseum went on sale Monday at 10 a.m.

Scouting Kentucky’s first-round opponent

Team: Liberty Flames

Location: Lynchburg, Virginia

Enrollment: 16,000 on campus; 124,000 online

School colors: Blue, Red, White and Grey

Head coach: Carey Green (591-239 in 26 seasons at Liberty and overall)

Conference: Conference USA

NCAA berth: Automatic (Liberty tied Middle Tennessee for first place in the conference in the regular season then won the league tournament.)

All-time series: Kentucky leads 2-1

Last meeting: Kentucky won 83-77 on March 20, 2010, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Louisville.

Common opponents with Kentucky this season: Liberty lost to Tennessee 109-93 (Nov. 16) and beat Arkansas 75-61 (Dec. 18) and Western Kentucky 77-66 (Jan. 2) and 74-70 (March 8).

Notable games this season: Against power conference teams in addition to Tennessee and Arkansas, Liberty lost to Duke 83-67.