First March Madness women's bracket predictions of 2025
We’re officially just 8 weeks out from Selection Sunday, which means it’s time to tip off my weekly women’s basketball bracket predictions every Tuesday leading up to the big reveal of the 2025 March Madness bracket!
Each week, I’ll break down my Top 16 teams (those with hosting rights), spotlight notable shifts, highlight signature wins, and, of course, update you on bubble teams. An unbeaten UCLA secures the top overall seed and is joined by No. 1 seeds South Carolina, Notre Dame and Southern Cal.
2025 March Madness women's bracket predictions
| SEED | SpokanE 1 | Birmingham 2 | Spokane 4 | Birmingham 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | South Carolina | South Carolina | Notre Dame |
| 16 | Longwood/Eastern Illinois | Farleigh Dickinson/Texas Southern | Wofford | North Carolina A&T |
| 8 | Mississippi State | Nebraska | Creighton | Utah |
| 9 | SDSU | Florida State | Louisville | Indiana |
| 5 | NC State | Alabama | West Virginia | Georgia Tech |
| 12 | Middle Tennessee | FGCU | UNLV | Murray State |
| 4 | Tennessee | Duke | North Carolina | Oklahoma |
| 13 | Montana State | Fairfield | UC Irvine | James Madison |
| 6 | Michigan | Vanderbilt | Cal | Michigan State |
| 11 | Harvard/Virginia Tech | Stanford/Washington | Iowa | UTSA |
| 3 | Kentucky | Ohio State | Kansas State | Maryland |
| 14 | Grand Canyon | Norfolk State | Gonzaga | Ball State |
| 7 | Minnesota | Oklahoma State | Baylor | Ole Miss |
| 10 | Richmond | Illinois | Oregon | Columbia |
| 2 | TCU | Texas | LSU | UConn |
| 15 | UAlbany | SE Louisiana | Purdue Fort Wayne | Lehigh |
Last Four in: Virginia Tech, Washington, Harvard, Iowa State
First Four out: Stanford, Florida, Clemson, Seton Hall
📊 POWER RANKINGS: Autumn Johnson drops Ohio State out of most recent Power 10 rankings
Conferences with multiple teams in the bracket
| CONFERENCE | TOTAL TEAMS | TEAMS |
|---|---|---|
| Big Ten | 13 | UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota, Southern Cal, Iowa, Oregon, Nebraska, Washington, Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Maryland |
| ACC | 10 | NC State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, Cal, Florida State, Duke, Stanford, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech |
| SEC | 10 | Mississippi State, Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Texas, Oklahoma, Ole Miss |
| Big 12 | 7 | TCU, West Virginia, Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Utah, Iowa State, |
Autumn Johnson's automatic qualifiers
| AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS | Teams |
|---|---|
| America East | UAlbany |
| American Athletic | UTSA |
| A-10 | Richmond |
| ACC | Notre Dame |
| ASUN | Florida Gulf Coast |
| Big 12 | TCU |
| Big East | UConn |
| Big Sky | Montana State |
| Big South | Longwood |
| Big Ten | UCLA |
| Big West | UC Irvine |
| CAA | NC A&T |
| CUSA | Middle Tennessee |
| Horizon | Purdue Fort Wayne |
| Ivy | Columbia |
| MAAC | Fairfield |
| MAC | Ball State |
| MEAC | Norfolk State |
| Missouri Valley | Murray State |
| Mountain West | UNLV |
| Northeast | Farleigh Dickinson |
| Ohio Valley | Eastern Illinois |
| Patriot | Lehigh |
| SEC | South Carolina |
| Southern | Wofford |
| Southland | SE Louisiana |
| SWAC | Texas Southern |
| Summit League | South Dakota State |
| Sun Belt | JMU |
| WCC | Gonzaga |
| WAC | Grand Canyon |
