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One of the most exciting times in sports is almost here.The 2025 NCAA Tournament starts next week with 68 teams readying for college basketball’s showcase event. South Carolina is looking to repeat as champions, but entering this year’s tournament, there is no single dominant team. Four schools have been No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, tying the record most recently set in 2021.
Here’s everything you need to know about the bracket reveal:
How to watch the selection show
The 68-team bracket for the Division I women’s tournament will be revealed at 8 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN.
All games in the tournament will air on ABC, ESPN and the ESPN family of networks.
The men’s basketball tournament bracket reveal will air prior to the women’s show at 6 p.m. ET on CBS. Men’s tournament games will air on CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV.
Where is this year’s tournament being held?
The first two rounds will be held on campus sites for the highest seed in each four-team pod, so in other words, the top 16 teams will host. The First Four is Wednesday and Thursday, while the first round is March 21-22.
Then, half of the field will head to Birmingham, Ala., for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, and the other half will travel to Spokane, Wash. Those games will be played March 28-31.
The Final Four begins on April 4. The championship weekend will be held at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. The title game is scheduled for April 6.
Who are the automatic qualifiers?
Who’s on the bubble entering Selection Sunday?
Here’s what we expect the field to look like on Sunday, according to our bracket expert Mark Schindler.
What to watch for in the NCAA Tournament
Will UConn snap its title drought?
After winning the Big East regular-season and conference tournament titles, UConn could be a No. 1 seed for the first time since 2020-21. Whether the Huskies are a No. 1 seed or fall to the No. 2 line, the Huskies and star guard Paige Bueckers are eyeing a return to the Final Four for the second consecutive season. UConn had to restart its Final Four appearance streak a season ago after its 14-year Final Four streak ended in 2022-23. More than just Final Four appearances, the Huskies aim to win their first national title since 2015-16. Bueckers moved past Diana Taurasi as the program’s all-time leading scorer in late February, but the presumptive No. 1 pick in this April’s WNBA Draft is still chasing her first national championship.
Will South Carolina repeat?
A year after going 38-0 en route to a third national championship, South Carolina aims to become the first repeat champion since UConn in 2015-16. The Gamecocks split the SEC regular-season title with Texas and won the SEC tournament by defeating the Longhorns. South Carolina’s three losses are its most in a season since 2020-21, yet it still could earn the No. 1 overall seed. The Gamecocks are elite on both ends of the floor, loaded with depth and remain a legitimate title contender.
How far can JuJu Watkins take USC?
Watkins and the Trojans enter the NCAA Tournament eyeing their first national championship since 1984. USC is expected to be a No. 1 seed for a second consecutive season, but it needs to get past the Elite Eight after losing in that round to UConn last season. Watkins was a first-team All-American freshman and emerged as the country’s top player as a sophomore. She was a member of the Big Ten’s All-Defensive team and the Big Ten Player of the Year in USC’s first season in the conference. Watkins, ’s Player of the Year, averaged 24.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game during the regular season. Those numbers go up against top competition. Entering the Big Ten tournament, she averaged 25.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks on 37.5 percent shooting from 3-point range against top-10 opponents.
Can the tournament build on last year’s success?
The 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament amassed countless records. For the first time, the women’s title game, between South Carolina and Iowa, drew more television viewers than the men’s, averaging 18.9 million on ABC and ESPN and peaking at 24 million. It was the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record, as well as the most-watched basketball game, men’s or women’s, since 2019.
Last year’s Final Four was also the highest-viewed women’s Final Four, according to ESPN, and the tournament set attendance records, too. More than 430,000 fans attended the event, surpassing the previous record (357,542) by more than 78,000 spectators. Interest in women’s college basketball remained high during the regular season this year, as ESPN had more games that received 500,000-plus viewers this year than in 2023-24. This year’s title game will be broadcast on ABC for only the third time.
Who will be the No. 1 seeds?
Heading into Selection Sunday, questions remain about the top of the bracket. It’s likely either Big Ten tournament champion UCLA or SEC tournament champion South Carolina will be the overall No. 1 seed. There are also questions about who will be the fourth No. 1 seed. Texas or UConn will likely get that spot, with the other being the first No. 2 seed.
After a season full of parity, it’s fitting that key seeding questions remain.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins, South Carolina Gamecocks, Connecticut Huskies, Texas Longhorns, Sports Business, Women's College Basketball
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