After all is said and done, the women’s NCAA Tournament has arguably provided us with the four best teams in the bracket. With JuJu Watkins out for USC, Paige Bueckers and the No. 2 UConn Huskies stepped up to give fans a showdown between three No. 1 seeds and Connecticut.
With so much talent on each team, picking a winner is anyone’s guess. Do you go with one of the No. 1 seeds, who’ve proven themselves throughout the season? Or do you go with the Huskies, who have won America’s hearts and are even sitting atop some odds boards heading into the Final Four? It’s a tough decision, and that’s why you shouldn’t make it. Leave that choice up to the dozens of experts around the internet willing to put their hubris on the line for the sake of saying, “I told you so,” in a week.
Here is what some of those experts are saying:
March Madness winners, losers: Final Four women’s basketball teams confirmed
Women’s Final Four Predictions:
ESPN: South Carolina to defeat Texas
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All three of ESPN’s experts believe the defending-champion Gamecocks will take down the Longhorns in the Final Four. While ESPN does like Texas’ defense, its lack of offense, specifically 3-point shooting, could be its fatal flaw. ESPN writes, “The Longhorns might have the best midrange player in the game in (Madison) Booker and sport the nation’s fourth-best offensive rebound rate. But no team in the country gets less offense from shooting 3-pointers than Texas. Against TCU, the Longhorns took two shots from behind the arc. They are 8-for-24 from downtown in the NCAA tournament.”
Madison Williams, Sports Illustrated: South Carolina could be in trouble
Williams does not like South Carolina’s chances of moving forward. Why? Because the Gamecocks suffered three losses during the entirety of the 2024-25 regular season and each came from the teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament. Williams writes, “South Carolina suffered three losses during the 2024-25 regular season and, you guessed it, the three other Final Four teams are who handed the Gamecocks those losses. UCLA beat South Carolina 77-62 on Nov. 24, then Texas won 66-62 on Feb. 9 and UConn won 87-58 on Feb. 16.”
Joe Tansey, Bleacher Report: UConn too strong to lose to UCLA?
Tansey writes, “UCLA has been one of the great stories of the season behind star Lauren Betts, but this is UConn in the NCAA tournament. Paige Bueckers scored 34, 40 and 31 points in the last three rounds to power the Huskies to Tampa. UConn won all four of its NCAA tournament games so far by double digits. UCLA gave up 28 points to LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson in the Elite Eight. That’s a concern going into Friday because Bueckers could produce an even better offensive showing against the Bruins defense.”
When is women’s Final Four?
The women’s Final Four begins Friday, April 4. The national championship game is on Sunday, April 6 with every game taking place at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Texas and South Carolina will play first with tip-off set for 7 p.m. ET. UCLA and UConn will start soon after at 9:30 p.m. ET.
The national championship is set for a 3 p.m. ET tip-off on Sunday.
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