NCAAW: Is this the year the UCLA Bruins win a national championship?

It’s that time of year again—March Madness is finally here! With the 2025 NCAA Tournament right around the corner, a few of us at Swish Appeal have volunteered to stick our necks out and publish our brackets, as well as elaborate on a few of our biggest predictions.

On a personal note, I have little doubt that these predictions will age terribly. But in the spirit of March Madness, here are three things I think we’ll see during this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Click here to see Eric’s bracket.

Notre Dame catches fire at the right time

A month ago, predicting Notre Dame to make the Final Four would have been an easy call. The Fighting Irish were 24-2, having earned massive non-conference wins over Texas and UConn; they also boasted an undefeated record in the ACC. They were even ranked No. 1 in the country by the Associated Press as recently as Feb. 17.

Notre Dame stumbled towards the end of the season, however, dropping back-to-back games against NC State and Florida State and mustering just 56 points in a disappointing ACC Tournament loss to Duke. Clearly, the selection committee was not impressed by this late-season letdown, seeding the Irish at No. 3 in the Birmingham region.

Let’s be clear: Notre Dame has the talent to be a No. 1 seed in this tournament. I think most would agree with that. The question is whether or not the Irish will be able to perform under pressure. Recent struggles aside, they’ve also lost in the Sweet 16 in three-consecutive NCAA Tournaments, most notably last year against an Oregon State team they were favored against.

I expect the Irish to break that streak in 2025. This is the best roster head coach Niele Ivey has had since inheriting the storied program in 2020, and with Olivia Miles, Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron, Notre Dame is going to have more firepower on the perimeter than just about any opponent it might face in its region. March is when the nation’s stars shine their brightest, and if the Irish’s trio of big-name guards is in sync, I think it’s plenty feasible that they make the Final Four.

West Virginia’s defense fuels a Sweet 16 run

I don’t have much in the way of a Cinderella team in my bracket, so West Virginia advancing to the Sweet 16 will have to do. There are certainly a few ways this could go wrong, particularly if the Mountaineers’ defense can’t generate transition offense opportunities against their first two opponents. If West Virginia gets stuck in the halfcourt, things won’t go so well.

I’m willing to put my faith in that defense, though. The Mountaineers led Division I in opponents’ turnover rate, forcing a miscue on 29.1 percent of their defensive possessions (Her Hoop Stats), while 16.8 percent came on steals. West Virginia held opponents to 77 points per 100 possessions (No. 2 in Division I), despite being good-but-not-great at rebounding the ball, and JJ Quinerly earned her second-consecutive Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award.

The type of relentless energy West Virginia plays with on the defensive end is not something opposing teams want to compete against, especially if they don’t have multiple guards who can bring the ball up the court. It’s something that can neutralize differences in talent elsewhere on the court—and the Mountaineers are pretty talented themselves. I expect them to eventually peter out, but not before advancing to the Sweet 16.

UCLA uses its size and depth to win the national championship

Is picking the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed to win it all a basic choice? Maybe. Not a lot of fans would seem to agree with it, though; at the time of writing, 10.8 percent of all ESPN brackets pick the Bruins to win the national championship, well behind South Carolina (26.9 percent), UConn (20.4 percent) and USC (13 percent).

The Bruins may not have the household names of UConn or USC or the championship pedigree of South Carolina, but they have one major advantage no other team in the tournament has: Lauren Betts. The 6-foot-7 center is perhaps the most dominant post player in the country, averaging 19.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game, and UCLA does a terrific job at playing through her. The amount of attention that Betts commands from defenses makes every other UCLA player’s job easier, and it’s no coincidence that guards like Kiki Rice (50 percent shooting from the field) and Gabriela Jaquez (54.3 percent) are having their most efficient scoring seasons playing next to her.

As a team, it’s hard to hang with UCLA for a full 40 minutes. The Bruins can grind down any opponent over the course of a game, thanks to excellent rebounding (58.7 percent total rebounding rate; No. 1 in Division I, according to Her Hoop Stats) and a superb assist/turnover ratio (1.35; No. 13). They simply have too many ways to win the possession battle and too many good players who can make that happen.

Speaking of which, UCLA is far from a one-player show. Rice broke out as a junior, posting averages of 12.8 points, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals, and is a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award. Janiah Barker, who would be starting on almost any other team in the tournament, took home Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year honors. Timea Gardner (37.7 percent 3-point shooting) and Angela Dugalić (37 percent) are having strong seasons shooting the basketball.

Throughout the course of the regular season and Big Ten Tournament, UCLA proved it can beat some of the country’s best teams. It won’t be an easy road to a national championship—the Bruins will likely need to get past some combination of LSU or NC State, USC or UConn, Texas or Notre Dame and, of course, South Carolina—but I think they’re up to the challenge. Put some respect on the Bruins’ name, because this could be their year.