Women's Bracketology: 2025 NCAA tournament

By Charlie Creme Updated: 1/24/2025 at 8:50 a.m. ET

The arrival of 2025 brings the shift to conference play and the beginning of the sprint to March. Bracketology now moves to twice-weekly updates, with new projections every Tuesday and Friday. Automatic bids now total 31 as we continue to count down to Selection Sunday on March 16.

Bracket Watch

Bad weather forced LSU-South Carolina to Friday (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET). It's one of the biggest games of the season and one that could have major implications for No. 1 seeds, which have remained steady for weeks. A Tigers win would put LSU on the top line and drop USC to a 2-seed. A Gamecocks win, especially a convincing one, would further cement the top four. Barring any major upsets, the top line might be locked up at that point. With a loss Friday, LSU would remain a 2-seed, giving the SEC seven teams among the top 18. Tennessee had to be moved down a line to a No. 6 seed for procedural reasons.

On the Bubble

Last Four Byes

Last Four In

First Four Out

Next Four Out

68-Team Bracket

Region 1 Spokane

Los Angeles

Tuscaloosa

Fort Worth

Austin

Region 4 Spokane

Los Angeles

Lexington

Chapel Hill

Baton Rouge

Region 2 Birmingham

Columbia

Durham

Columbus

Manhattan

Region 3 Birmingham

South Bend

Norman

College Park

Storrs

Conference Breakdown

Conference

Team

Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock

RULES

ESPN's Bracketology efforts are focused on projecting the NCAA tournament field just as we expect the NCAA Division I basketball committee to select the field in March. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme uses the same data points favored by the committee, including strength of schedule and other season-long indicators, including the NET and team-sheet data similar to what is available to the NCAA, in his projections of the field. Visit the NCAA's website for a fuller understanding of NCAA selection criteria.

64-Team Bracket

The 64-team bracket is the standard version of the NCAA tournament field that has been in place since 1994. If the 2021 field is comprised of 64 teams, there will be some key differences to past years, however.

The primary adjustment from a normal year is, of course, the playing of the entire NCAA tournament at a single site. This eliminates the need for geographical considerations in seeding. Additionally, there will be at least one fewer automatic qualifier this season, as the Ivy League's decision to forgo the 2020-21 season reduces the number of AQ entries to 31 for this season.

48-Team Bracket

In this projection, a condensed selection process would reduce the field by eight at-large teams and eight automatic qualifiers (the latter of which still receive a revenue unit). The top four seeds in each region would receive a bye into the second round, with four first-round games per region - 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9.

16-Team Bracket

In this projection, the committee selects and seeds the 16 best available teams. There are no automatic qualifiers, although all non-competing conference champions receive the designated revenue unit.

To maintain some sense of national balance, conference participation is capped at four teams. And no region shall have more than one team from the same conference.

ESPN

Bracket Watch

Top Overall Seed

First Team Out

Last Team In

On the Bubble

Last Four Byes

Last Four In

First Four Out

Next Four Out

68-Team Bracket

Region 1 Spokane

Los Angeles

Tuscaloosa

Fort Worth

Austin

Region 4 Spokane

Los Angeles

Lexington

Chapel Hill

Baton Rouge

Region 2 Birmingham

Columbia

Durham

Columbus

Manhattan

Region 3 Birmingham

South Bend

Norman

College Park

Storrs

Conference Breakdown

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