Filling out a bracket isn’t easy. Not if you want to win, anyway.
Our experts who will be providing coverage of the women’s NCAA Tournament at The Athletic combined their brackets to give you one more useful tool to help you make intelligent picks. Our six reporters explain their picks below.
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First Round
Second Round
Sweet 16
Elite Eight
Region Champion
Fort Worth 1
Sacramento 4
TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
Sacramento 2
Fort Worth 3
First Four
Sacramento 4
Sacramento 4
Sacramento 2
Fort Worth 3
Who makes the Sweet 16?
The first two rounds of expert picks were predictably smart and filled with few upsets. So let’s jump right to where the tournament gets juicier.
|
Seed |
Team |
Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
UConn |
6 |
|
1 |
South Carolina |
6 |
|
1 |
UCLA |
6 |
|
1 |
Texas |
6 |
|
2 |
Vanderbilt |
6 |
|
2 |
Iowa |
6 |
|
2 |
LSU |
6 |
|
2 |
Michigan |
6 |
|
3 |
TCU |
6 |
|
3 |
Duke |
6 |
|
3 |
Louisville |
6 |
|
4 |
Oklahoma |
5 |
|
4 |
North Carolina |
2 |
|
4 |
West Virginia |
3 |
|
5 |
Ole Miss |
6 |
|
5 |
Maryland |
4 |
|
5 |
Kentucky |
2 |
|
5 |
Michigan State |
1 |
|
6 |
Notre Dame |
5 |
|
11 |
Fairfield |
1 |
|
12 |
James Madison |
1 |
One thing is clear: Our bracket-fillers have no faith in No. 3 seed Ohio State. None voted for the Buckeyes, who apparently lost credibility by bowing out of the tournament early the last two seasons with second-round exits. Our experts see No. 6 Notre Dame, despite its inconsistencies, reaching the Sweet 16 for a fifth straight season.
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No. 4 seed Minnesota also got no love. Our staff unanimously sees the Gophers falling to No. 5 seed Ole Miss, which gained some goodwill with a recent win against Vanderbilt.
A couple of our voters are expecting some rare women’s tournament magic by advancing Fairfield and James Madison into the Sweet 16. James Madison, an automatic qualifier from the Sun Belt tournament, enters the NCAA Tournament on a 12-game winning streak. Fairfield, which earned a bid as the MAAC tournament champs, averages 11 3-pointers a game. Do the Stags have a buzzer-beater 3 in them to wreak some havoc? Sounds fun.
Who makes the Elite Eight?
|
Seed |
Team |
Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
UConn |
6 |
|
1 |
UCLA |
6 |
|
1 |
South Carolina |
6 |
|
1 |
Texas |
6 |
|
2 |
Vanderbilt |
6 |
|
2 |
Iowa |
3* |
|
2 |
LSU |
2 |
|
2 |
Michigan |
2 |
|
3 |
Duke |
4 |
|
3 |
Louisville |
4 |
|
3 |
TCU |
3* |
Our votes were split (*) on who advanced between No. 2 Iowa versus No. 3 TCU in the Sweet 16, so we flipped a coin to decide. Not very scientific, of course. But that should indicate what a toss-up this matchup is. The top four seeds, plus No. 2 seed Vanderbilt, were unanimous selections to reach the Elite Eight. Pretty chalky so far, but our experts showed quite a bit of trust in No. 3 seeds Louisville and Duke.
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Our Final Four picks
|
Expert |
Champion |
Fort Worth 1 |
Sacramento 2 |
Sacramento 4 |
Fort Worth 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jerry Brewer |
South Carolina |
UConn |
UCLA |
South Carolina |
Louisville |
|
Chantel Jennings |
UConn |
UConn |
UCLA |
South Carolina |
Michigan |
|
Eden Laase |
UConn |
UConn |
UCLA |
South Carolina |
Texas |
|
Sabreena Merchant |
UConn |
UConn |
UCLA |
South Carolina |
Texas |
|
Grace Raynor |
UConn |
UConn |
UCLA |
South Carolina |
Louisville |
|
Cameron Teague Robinson |
UConn |
UConn |
UCLA |
South Carolina |
Texas |
Jerry Brewer came to bring some chaos! A South Carolina championship doesn’t fit the narrative of UConn’s destiny quest for a repeat title, but is it that wild to picture Dawn Staley lifting the trophy again? Not really.
All of our voters had at least three No. 1 seeds in their Final Four selections. The Fort Worth 3 Region looks like it could be the most volatile, as half of our experts don’t expect Texas to survive there. Brewer and Grace Raynor chose Louisville as an interesting Final Four pick. Chantel Jennings was an outlier, picking Michigan to make the final weekend.
Our experts’ explanations …
Best potential matchup
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Duke, Sweet 16
The Tigers and Blue Devils are on a collision course in the Sweet 16, and even though the Tigers won a December matchup handily, this is a much different Duke team that learned every necessary lesson from a tough early-season schedule. The contrasting styles will make this a tournament classic. — Jerry Brewer
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No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Notre Dame, second round
I’m going with a first-weekend game and picking Ohio State vs. Notre Dame. Everybody knows Hannah Hidalgo as arguably the best guard in the country, but people may not realize how good Ohio State point guard Jaloni Cambridge is as well. This is an elite guard matchup the country should be excited to watch. — Cameron Teague Robinson
Two elite guards in Hidalgo and Cambridge face off for a trip to the Sweet 16? Sign me up. — Eden Laase
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt, Elite Eight
Strong vs. Blakes. Geno vs. Shea. Did Vanderbilt actually ascend to another level this season or is there still work to do? — Sabreena Merchant
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This game is for a trip to the Final Four. Geno Auriemma’s protege, Shea Ralph, learned from the best and gets a crack at her mentor. Bonus points for the star power on the court, including Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes and UConn’s Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd. — Grace Raynor
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 1 UCLA, national championship
Feels like a cop-out, but a UConn-UCLA title game would have all the drama and juice you’d want. UCLA is a team that feels overlooked (despite having potentially six WNBA first-round draft picks) and is looking to avenge last year’s Final Four loss while playing against the country’s best player in Strong. UConn has the winningest coach in college basketball history. — Chantel Jennings
Prime for upset
No. 4 North Carolina
The Tar Heels have struggled through shaky shooting and issues defending on the perimeter, and against good teams, they have had a bad habit of digging themselves holes. — Brewer
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No. 7 Texas Tech
This pick has more to do with Villanova as the opponent, but Texas Tech has lost three of its last four and is about to run into Big East-leading scorer Jasmine Bascoe. The country may quickly learn how good Bascoe is, but this offense, as a whole, could give the Red Raiders trouble. — Teague Robinson
No. 3 TCU
The Horned Frogs have some of the most talented players in the country, but lately they have struggled with foul trouble and continuity. If that version of TCU shows up, it could be an early exit. — Laase
No. 3 Ohio State
The Buckeyes have lost on their home court in the second round two seasons in a row, and both Notre Dame — with all-American Hidalgo — and veteran-laden Fairfield are capable of swinging an upset again. — Merchant
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Notre Dame could easily bounce the Buckeyes in Round 2. — Raynor
No. 4 Minnesota
A five-seed over a four-seed isn’t exactly a huge upset. But it seems like the Gophers got one of the toughest second-round matchups among hosting teams with Ole Miss coming to the Twin Cities. — Jennings
Final Four
UConn, UCLA, South Carolina, Louisville
All of the No. 1 seeds are strong, but chalk is boring, right? I’m going with only three (UConn, South Carolina and UCLA) and thinking Texas could be vulnerable in a gnarly potential Elite Eight matchup against Louisville. — Brewer
UConn, South Carolina and UCLA feel inevitable as three of the most dominant teams in the country. A fired-up Jeff Walz helps Louisville sneak in over Texas in upset fashion in Fort Worth because this is March and it’s totally unpredictable. — Raynor
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UConn, UCLA, South Carolina, Texas
These four have consistently been the best teams in the country all season long. They have the talent, experience and depth to repeat as the last four teams standing. — Laase
In previous seasons, there would have been star players on less-heralded teams who could pull an upset and cause drama. Now, in the portal era, those stars are all on the No. 1 seeds (Gianna Kneepkens, Ta’Niya Latson and Serah Williams), bolstering the strength of the top teams even more. The only No. 2 seed I would have considered breaking through would be Vanderbilt, but the Commodores got stuck in UConn’s region. — Merchant
While I think there are only small gaps among these four teams, I think there’s a pretty big gap between them and the rest of the field. I was extremely tempted to take Duke over UCLA, though. This is a much different Duke team than the one that lost to UCLA in November. The Blue Devils can make it difficult for UCLA to get the ball in the post, but I’m not sure they can score enough to win. — Teague Robinson
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UConn, UCLA, South Carolina, Michigan
UConn and UCLA are the two best teams in the country. South Carolina enters looking to prove something after a disappointing SEC tournament exit. And Michigan’s young core will lead the program to its first Final Four. — Jennings
National champion
South Carolina 75, UCLA 71
It seems an impossible task for the Gamecocks to beat UConn and UCLA in a span of three days, but this team is just balanced enough and possesses the stellar guard play for Staley to pull off a big surprise. — Brewer
UConn 76, UCLA 70
Best coach in the country. Best player in the country. Say what you want about their strength of schedule, but UConn in March is different, and an undefeated UConn in March feels nearly unstoppable. — Jennings
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UConn 76, UCLA 71
Last year, UConn destroyed UCLA in the Final Four. That won’t happen again because UCLA is a much more complete team, rather than one that just relies on Lauren Betts for everything. But, UConn still gets it done behind the best duo in the country in Strong and Fudd, and a coach in Auriemma who has proved time and time again that he knows how to win national championships. — Laase
UConn 81, Texas 72
The Huskies have been trending toward another undefeated season since Nov. 4, and nothing suggests that any team has figured them out. With the best coach and the best player in the country, UConn gets it done again. — Merchant
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UConn 85, UCLA 72
The Huskies are the best team in the country and are beating teams by nearly 40 points a game. It’s been a special year for the Bruins, but no one is touching the Huskies. —Raynor
UConn 72, UCLA 66
Simply put, nobody is beating the combination of Fudd, Strong and Auriemma. — Teague Robinson
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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