UConn, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA are not Thanos. But they still felt inevitable.

When ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 for the 2025-26 season came out immediately following UConn’s women’s college basketball championship a year ago, the Huskies, Gamecocks, Longhorns and Bruins were the top four teams. Even looking 12 months into the future, the programs that had just battled in Tampa still felt like they would be the teams headed to Phoenix. And here we are.

For just the second time, the Final Four is a repeat of the previous year. This is also the fifth time that all four No. 1 seeds made it through the bracket. It also happened in 1989, 2012, 2015 and 2018.

The quartet was as dominant as expected after holding the top four spots in the AP Top 25 ranking and Bracketology all season long. UConn, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA, which have a combined record of 143-7, won their Elite Eight games by a record average of 23 points, and each team’s average margin of victory in the NCAA tournament was at least 12 points.

Cinderella never had a chance this March. As a result, April provides us with the biggest brands in women’s basketball on the biggest stage. Here is a look at what needs to happen for each team to lift the national championship trophy Sunday.

Jump to: UConn | South Carolina | Texas | UCLA | Predictions

No. 1 overall seed | Fort Worth 1 Region

• Round of 64: 90-52 vs. No. 16 UTSA
• Round of 32: 98-45 vs. No. 9 Syracuse
• Sweet 16: 63-42 vs. No. 4 North Carolina
• Elite Eight: 70-52 vs. No. 6 Notre Dame
• Final Four: vs. South Carolina, Friday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

What’s on the line? The Huskies are after their second consecutive national championship, which would be their first repeat since 2016 and their NCAA-record 13th overall. They are also two wins shy of their seventh perfect season.

Why the Huskies can win: The Huskies get a D-plus for their offensive performance in Fort Worth. Yet they still won two games by 21 and 18 points. That’s because the defense, which has been good all season, was an A-plus. UConn leads the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, steals, points allowed per game, opponents’ field goal percentage and points off turnovers. Sophomore Sarah Strong is the likely national player of the year as much for her defense as her ability to shoot, pass and rebound. Having Strong might be the Huskies’ biggest advantage because she does everything at an elite level.

UConn also schemes so well and adjusts to the opponents’ strength. The press can be devastating. And don’t think playing in the Big East, a perceived weaker conference, inflated the Huskies’ stats. Against nine teams seeded No. 9 or higher in this NCAA tournament, UConn won by an average of 25.8 points. The Huskies forced Ohio State and North Carolina into 24 turnovers. Iowa committed 26.

Despite producing the two lowest point totals of the season in Fort Worth against North Carolina and Notre Dame, UConn remains second only to, perhaps, UCLA in offense. The Huskies do top the nation in field goal percentage, points per game and assists. With Azzi Fudd leading the way, shooting 45.5% from 3-point range, the Huskies are second in the country in that category, too. This is the most well-balanced and well-rounded team remaining, and it’s why UConn has won 54 straight games.

UConn’s fatal flaw: How the Huskies respond in a close game. While the sputtering offense made the two games in the regionals tighter than expected, they still weren’t truly close. That is the high bar the Huskies have set. A lack of close games has never seemed to bother past UConn teams, but there is always that question how a team that hasn’t been pushed late in games will react if it is challenged.

In the only example this season, a three-point win over Michigan, UConn shined. Despite the one-possession final margin, the Wolverines never had a chance to tie or take the lead. Fudd made three huge 3-pointers and four even bigger free throws. KK Arnold had a game-sealing steal. That was Nov. 21 at Mohegan Sun. Will a close game at a neutral site against an even better opponent impact a team that hasn’t been remotely challenged in four months? History says no, but it’s something to watch.

Inside intel from the regional

• Freshman Blanca Quiñonez has been the Huskies’ breakout star in the tournament. Her 17.3 points per game through four contests are second most behind Strong’s, and she’s also making an impact with 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. After an up-and-down regular season — including missing time with a shoulder injury — Geno Auriemma has been surprised with how consistent she has been these past few weeks.

“She doesn’t think about what she’s doing. She just does,” he said. “She wants you to know that she’s impacting the game. But she’s not worrying about, ‘What if I miss this shot, what if I turn the ball over’ … that, to me, is the secret of being really good.”

Quiñonez — who grew up in Ecuador and played in a professional Italian league before arriving in Storrs — is the sort of player with whom Auriemma often butts heads. He described her as a combination of Diana Taurasi, Svetlana Abrosimova and Nika Muhl: “Very stubborn, very hard-headed, very sure of themselves, won’t back down to anybody anytime ever. … Two words you’ll never hear come out of any of those people’s mouth: ‘You’re right.'”

But that temperament seems to be serving Quiñonez well in big moments in March. “There’s no fear in her,” Auriemma said. “It’s refreshing, because she’s so young and has that [quality]. I really admire that in her.”

• This is the most depth Auriemma has had in a while, but his rotation has shrunk. In the regional, Strong (38 and 39 minutes) and Fudd (37 and 38) were tasked with heavy minutes compared to their season averages of 27.1 and 28.4, respectively. They were always going to play more minutes in March, but Auriemma would like to give them a break. Strong told ESPN after the Elite Eight that her legs were tired in the first half against Notre Dame — where she was limited to six points — before she scored 15 points after halftime.

“I’m not happy that I’m not able to get her a breather when I think she probably needs one,” Auriemma said. “And not happy that we only got her four shots in the first half. When it gets chaotic for us, she doesn’t touch the ball enough, so we have to be way more intentional now, specifically going to her, and then it’s difficult, because [opponents] know we’re going to her.”

• Auriemma has said this is perhaps the most unassuming undefeated team he has coached and that it lacks the alpha leader many of his other squads had. Outside of his top three scorers, he sees “a bunch of guys who do their little part, and then it all comes together and we win.”

And the Huskies have continued to respond to the challenges Auriemma (or a given game) puts in front of them. They’ve handled the burden of an undefeated record with aplomb — and with their own style, getting business done on the court but still having fun off it. “They are finding ways to have fun,” Auriemma said. “Maybe one of the first times in the 25 times that we won this game, on the bus on the way to the arena, somebody was blasting some song over the speakers … they just enjoy the whole thing, all of it.” — Alexa Philippou

No. 1 seed | Sacramento 4 Regional

• Round of 64: 103-34 vs. No. 16 Southern
• Round of 32: 101-61 vs. No. 9 USC
• Sweet 16: 94-68 vs. No. 4. Oklahoma
• Elite Eight: 78-52 vs. No. 3 TCU
• Final Four: vs. UConn, Friday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

What’s on the line? South Carolina is trying to win its third title in five years and fourth overall.

Why the Gamecocks can win: Last year’s team fell just short for a few reasons. Primarily, the Gamecocks ran into a UConn team that was a bad matchup for them and was playing at the peak of its powers. Another might have been that as deep and well-rounded South Carolina appeared, it lacked a No. 1 go-to option, a player to turn to for that one big basket.

This version of the Gamecocks isn’t as deep, but it does have Joyce Edwards and Ta’Niya Latson. Edwards has increased her scoring average by seven points as a sophomore. Her 19.7 points per game is the highest average under Dawn Staley since A’ja Wilson in 2018. While Latson’s season hasn’t been as consistent as she likely hoped after transferring from Florida State, she’s as capable of carrying a team offensively for a two-game stretch as any player in this Final Four. She did it regularly as a Seminole while leading the nation in scoring last season, including 58 points in two NCAA tournament games in 2025. That Latson went from 28 points against Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 to three in the Elite Eight win over TCU illustrates the up-and-down nature of her season, but Latson can be explosive.

South Carolina’s fatal flaw: Final Four experience. This is likely something strange to read about a team making its sixth consecutive trip to the Final Four, but after the Johnsons — guards Raven Johnson, a senior, and Tessa Johnson, a junior (they are not related) — the Gamecocks don’t have much Final Four experience. Raven and Tessa have played in five combined Final Fours (Raven was also on the 2021-2022 team, but was injured early that season), but nearly all the rest of the Final Four minutes on South Carolina’s roster belong to Edwards last year.

This illustrates how much turnover occurred with this South Carolina team and how well it came together after losing four instrumental players to graduation and two more to injury. Raven Johnson, Tessa Johnson and Edwards are certainly a solid core to have heading into the season’s biggest games, and although Latson, 6-foot-6 Mississippi State transfer Madina Okot and freshman Agot Makeer haven’t been through this before, they’re players the Gamecocks need to perform well to win a national championship.

Inside intel from the regional

• Makeer scored in double digits in all four of South Carolina’s NCAA tournament games, averaging 14.8 points. Before that, she scored 10 or more points in only three games the rest of the season — and it hadn’t happened since Dec. 28. But after Makeer scored a career-high 18 points to help the Gamecocks book their ticket to the Final Four, Raven Johnson heaped praise on the freshman guard.

“Gotti is the X factor of this team,” Johnson said. “She’s the silent killer. She’s not afraid. She’s not afraid of nobody. And I think her confidence is through the roof … She went off against TCU. That’s the Gotti we know. And that’s who is going to get us that title.”

• As Charlie described earlier, the Gamecocks have plenty of new faces on the roster as they return to the Final Four. Latson, who is making her first Final Four appearance, has been watching the growth and development of South Carolina’s new core group this season. Her consensus?

“I feel like we’re just a threat from anywhere. It can be anybody’s night,” Latson said. “Like Gotti came out ready to play. She did not play like a freshman. I am super proud of everyone in this locker room. We wouldn’t be where we are without everyone in this group.”

No. 1 seed | Fort Worth 3 Regional

• Round of 64: 87-45 vs. No. 16 Missouri State
• Round of 32: 100-58 vs. No. 8 Oregon
• Sweet 16: 76-54 No. 5 Kentucky
• Elite Eight: 77-41 vs. No. 2 Michigan
• Final Four: vs. UCLA, Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

What’s on the line? Vic Schaefer has now made the Final Four twice with Mississippi State and twice with Texas, but he’s looking for his first NCAA title — and the first for the Longhorns since 1986.

Why the Longhorns can win: Take your pick: Momentum. Physicality. Battle-tested. The Longhorns, who went 16-3 against AP Top 25-ranked teams this season, are not rolling into Phoenix as the favorite, but there are multiple reasons they could be cutting down the nets. UConn and UCLA hit the Final Four with bigger winning streaks, but it feels like Texas is the hottest team.

Since a loss to Vanderbilt on Feb. 12 — after which Schaefer questioned his team’s toughness, said the Longhorns had “no heart” and were “probably the softest team I’ve had in years” — the Longhorns have won 12 consecutive games by an average of 26.5 points. That includes a 17-point win over South Carolina in the SEC tournament championship game. The Gamecocks had a bigger point differential in four NCAA tournament games (161 to Texas’ 142), but the Longhorns smothered each opponent early, essentially ending games shortly after they began. Only Oregon, which trailed by seven points, was competitive with Texas in the first quarter. Michigan, Kentucky and Missouri State were down collectively 70-24 to Texas after 10 minutes.

That is also what the Longhorns did to UCLA when they met in November. They physically overwhelmed UCLA, especially in the backcourt. Schaefer’s toughness rant seems odd now looking back to the early part of the season and to what has happened to this point in the NCAA tournament. Being tougher than the opponent defines the Longhorns, especially given the size of 6-6 Kyla Oldacre, 6-4 Breya Cunningham and 6-1 Justice Carlton, plus the tenacity of Rori Harmon, Madison Booker and Jordan Lee on the perimeter.

Texas’ fatal flaw: 3-point shooting. In Booker, Texas has the best midrange player in the country. She might be playing the best basketball of her career this month, and UCLA doesn’t have an obvious answer for her. Perhaps no one does. But that midrange supremacy has covered up that the Longhorns continue to largely eschew the 3-point shot.

Texas was last in Division I in 3-point rate, and it hasn’t been a detriment at all — but it could be against the quality of teams in Phoenix. It has almost become cliché to discuss the Longhorns’ lack of 3-point shooting, but it is an advantage that all three of the other Final Four teams have over Texas, which made just 3 of 19 from deep even while dominating Michigan on Monday.

In fairness, strides have been made. Texas has attempted 75 more 3-pointers than it did a year ago and is making them at a better clip (33.8% to 30.1%). Yet if they are trailing, shooting themselves back into a game is not something the Longhorns have in their arsenal.

Inside intel from the regional

• The Longhorns, known for their defense, have held their four NCAA tournament foes to 49.5 PPG. When asked about Texas’ toughest defensive drill, sophomore Jordan Lee explained it’s a two-parter that’s typically an hour into practice.

“First, it’s ‘defense on the floor,’ which is like a 3-minute zigzag drill against our practice players,” Lee said. “Most people, especially through high school, are always taught to step-slide and not cross your feet. But here, Coach Schaefer is always saying if someone is running with the ball, we can’t be step-sliding. So it’s just focusing on making sure we are getting our nose on the ball, and we’re turning and running and getting squared up with the offensive player.

“Then there is ‘mirror,’ which is where our practice guys are running full speed and so are we. Our job is to put a forearm on them, get in front of the ball, and then they’ll stop, take two dribbles, and then you try to cut them off again. So it’s how many times you can cut them off the length of the floor going full speed.”

Lee said the drills are to firm up technique and for the players to be used to playing this kind of defense even when they are fatigued.

“The focus that requires is a different level, for sure,” Lee said. “It’s of huge importance in the way we play.”

Schaefer said, “We do those drills every day, and they really require maximum exertion. You can’t stop dribble penetration unless you get your nose on the ball. And there’s an old saying as a coach: If you can’t run faster than a ball can be dribbled, we’ve got a problem.” — Michael Voepel

No. 1 seed | Sacramento 2 Regional

• Round of 64: 96-43 vs. No. 16 Cal Baptist
• Round of 32: 87-68 vs. No. 8 Oklahoma State
• Sweet 16: 80-56 vs. No. 4 Minnesota
• Elite Eight: 70-58 vs. No. 3 Duke
• Final Four: vs. Texas, Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

What’s on the line? The Bruins are trying to win their first NCAA title, which would be the second overall for the Big Ten (Purdue won the national championship in 1999). UCLA won the 1978 AIAW title.

Why the Bruins can win: According to ESPN Analytics, Her Hoop Stats, CBB Analytics and any other number-crunching outfit, UCLA has the best offense in the sport. If the Bruins are going to complete this journey to a championship that began three years ago when Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalić began playing together, they must lean into the inside-outside versatility that earned that ranking.

The inside begins — and mostly ends — with 6-7 senior center Betts. She’s the most talented player over 6-4 in the country and has been at her best in the NCAA tournament, averaging 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks, while shooting 70.2% from the field. Her second-half performance against Duke — 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks — after the Bruins trailed by eight at the break was the quintessential moment of a star putting her team on her back when it matters most.

But if the Bruins are in a position where force-feeding Betts the ball is the best option, they won’t survive Texas. They share the ball as well as anyone (second nationally in assists at 22.2 per game) and make 36.8% of their 3-pointers (ninth). Both of those stats need to reach those levels in Phoenix. That’s what makes Rice and Gianna Kneepkens so important this weekend. Rice’s assists (4.4 per game to 3.0) and Kneepkens’ 3-point shooting (42.9% to 31.6%) are down in the NCAA tournament. UCLA likely cannot win a championship without those two trends reversing.

UCLA’s fatal flaw: Lingering memories of its November loss to Texas. The loss to Texas in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving weekend was a mental and physical beatdown. The Bruins overcame it quickly and historically by beating Duke by 30 points the next day — and not losing the rest of the season (UCLA is 35-1). No one outworked or outmuscled UCLA again on the way to 28 straight wins.

But that Nov. 26 game was worse for UCLA than the 76-65 score indicates. The Bruins were pushed around. They trailed by 20 at halftime. They committed 20 turnovers. Rice and Charlisse Leger-Walker struggled get the ball across half court against the pressure of Jordan Lee and Rori Harmon. Rice was coming off a recent shoulder surgery and Leger-Walker was playing in just her seventh game in well over a year after rehabbing an ACL tear. Betts injured an arm and was held to a season-low eight points. This time will likely be different, but the Bruins could be entering this game at a confidence deficit.

Inside intel from the regional

• A year ago, in their first Final Four in the NCAA era, the Bruins’ lack of experience showed as they were blown out in the semifinals. They are banking on last year’s lessons to help them make it to the championship game.

“It was our first time playing at that stage. It was super exciting, great for us to get there, but I do think that now our mindset is going to be a little bit different,” Rice told ESPN. “We’re going to know how to prepare, we’re going to know what it will take to be really focused and have success at that level.”

• UCLA lost to UConn 85-51 in last year’s Final Four, a game Betts said she has watched 10 times out of anger. She wanted to understand how that could have happened to her team that was so dominant through the 2024-25 regular season.

“How can I be better going into next year,” Betts said, “and how can I push this team so we can get there again and have that opportunity?”

• Coach Cori Close said she gave her team the summer to reflect on last year’s game — ask themselves what the standards are, understand how to reverse engineer bad habits and figure out what commitments they had to make to themselves to adjust their game. After that, they never discussed it again as a group.

“One of our three core values is having a growth mindset,” Close said. “It’s more rewarding to watch the steps of growth that lead to [winning]. Winning is a by-product.”

Jaquez, one of six graduating members on the UCLA roster, told ESPN, “That is why it was really important for our core group to come back. We were not content with what happened last year. We were proud, but there was more to get.” — Kendra Andrews

Final Four predictions

South Carolina vs. UConn

Andrea Adelson: UConn 70, South Carolina 60

Kendra Andrews: UConn 80, South Carolina 71

Charlie Creme: UConn 80, South Carolina 72

Charlotte Gibson: UConn 73, South Carolina 69

Alexa Philippou: UConn 72, South Carolina 64

Michael Voepel: UConn 70, South Carolina 66

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Texas vs. UCLA

Andrea Adelson: Texas 65, UCLA 57

Kendra Andrews: UCLA 72, Texas 68

Charlie Creme: Texas 72, UCLA 67

Charlotte Gibson: UCLA 67, Texas 66

Alexa Philippou: Texas 76, UCLA 69

Michael Voepel: Texas 77, UCLA 71