The Elite Eight field is set, and it is certainly up to the adjective on the nickname of regional finals.
The four seeds n ° 1 (UCLA, South Carolina, USC and Texas) are alive, just like all seeds n ° 2 (Uconn, Duke and TCU). LSU is the only seeded n ° 3, but the tigers could barely be described as an outsider with a renowned temple coach and a star list.
Of course, the test of strength that could have been is central to the spirit of basketball fans. The absence of a revenge match between Paige Bueckers and Juju Watkins is a disappointment for the tracker of the ESPN notes after Watkins left the tournament with a knee injury at the end of the season. But the quest for Uconn for a championship and the Win-One-On-juju Mantra of USC will still make a convincing match on Monday evening.
Our experts are there to break each Elite Eight match, the round which is widely considered to be the most difficult of the NCAA tournament. A trip in the Final Four is at stake. Who do you have?
(All time is)
N ° 1 UCLA against n ° 3 LSU
3 p.m. Sunday, ABC, Spokane 1 region
The UCLA is the global seeded team, but everything that guarantees Bruins is an opportunity to wear white jerseys against LSU. While the UCLA seeks its first appearance in the final final in the history of the program, it faces a more experienced tiger team with a renowned temple coach who ended the Bruins season last year.
These are two top 10 offenses that attack offensive glass and do not frequently return the ball. LSU arrives more often at the line of fault, and the UCLA is more prolific in the long term, but the two teams find a way to set up points in clusters.
Tigers undoubtedly have the best Big Three of university basketball with Aneesah Morrow, Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams, who combined an average of 54.6 points per game. The three of them did not need their heights in Sweet 16 thanks to the student’s production increase in the second year of Redshirt Sa’Myah Smith. She improved throughout the season while she regained her athletics following an LCA torn in November 2023 and now confronts the biggest challenge in her season against Lauren Betts, although she will have a lot of help from the guards who dig and morrow on the boards.
Aneesah Morrow tonight 🔥
• 30 points
• 19 rebounds
• 3 flights
• 2 blocks
• 12/25 FG– Women’s hoop network (@womenshops_usa) March 29, 2025
Bruins need Betts to be the best player in the match to win. This means that she must obtain deep seals and finishes without movement before the defense of LSU searches it. She will also have to protect the rim and boxer on the defensive glass to prevent Morrow and the rest of the tigers from obtaining a second effort.
Betts has played at a level of superstar in the last two laps, and she will have to do it again to exorcise demons from the defeat of Sweet 16 last season.
The UCLA completed the domination of Betts painting with a opportune outdoor shot. LSU concedes a high volume of attempts of 3 points, but the adversaries of the tigers only make 26.8% of these looks. Whether Londynn Jones, Gabriela Jaquez and Timea Gardiner can make LSU pay to clutter the painting.
The battle could be summed up to who can run in times of crisis, where tigers have many more repetitions than the UCLA. Nevertheless, although LSU has more options to turn to, the Bruins have the most non -waiting. In a uniformly equaled competition, take the best player. It’s Betts.
The choice: UCLA
– Sabreena Merchant
N ° 1 South Carolina against Duke n ° 2
1 p.m. Sunday, ABC, Birmingham 2 region
Duke is trying to do something on Sunday that only three other schools have done this season: beat the South Carolina. The Blue Devils and Gamecocks will meet in the Elite Eight with Duke who is not only looking to return to his first Final Four since 2006, but also to avenge a loss of regular season earlier this season. The Gamecocks led almost the entire meeting in early December. After the first quarter, the South Carolina increased by 28-12, and although Duke dominated the gamecocks throughout the rest of the competition, the margin proved to be too overcome while the South Carolina won a victory of 81-70.
Duke failed to start quickly and a number of his main offensive players were struggling. Reigan Richardson, Ashlon Jackson and Toby Fournier combined to score only 13 points. Eighteen reversals were particularly expensive for Blue Devils. They also tried only seven free throws, down compared to their seasonal average of 15.7 per game. If Duke can attack the rim and go to the free throw line, just as Maryland did in his sweet defeat against the Gamecocks, he should be well placed to hang with South Carolina. But it would be surprising if the Gamecocks did not play a sharper match on Sunday after having lacked the usual clarity against the terraaps.
In addition to any additional motivation by aimed at reaching a fifth consecutive Final Four, several of the best gamecocks play some of their best basketballs of the season. Second -year goalkeeper Milaysia Fulwiley scored 23 points in a four -point victory against terps and seems to produce more than in December against Duke, when she only scored three points in 15 minutes. The first year striker Joyce Edwards has also become a more central part of the rotation of Southern Carolina. Edwards only played 16 minutes when the teams gathered earlier this season while the Gamecocks rotation also featured Ashlyn Watkins, although she then torn her LCA.
The choice: South Carolina
– Ben Pickman
N ° 1 Texas vs n ° 2 TCU
7 p.m. Monday, ESPN, Birmingham 3
The horns in horns and the Longhorns will meet a place in the Final Four by serving as a bracket in play. “We could have met in Corsicana (Texas) and save money by playing, but nevertheless, I think it’s great for our state,” said Longhorns coach, Vic Schaefer.
The two Texas programs take advantage of the historic seasons. The Longhorns equaled their school record for the victories (34) with the victory of Sweet 16 on Saturday, and the Frogs in horns reached their first Elite Eight after defeating Notre Dame. Texas and TCU have elite offenses, although they mark in different ways. TCU relies on its peak-and-roll peak, trying to create game avenues for the star Hailey Van Lith. She was prolific in TCU’s sweet victory over the Irish, marking a 26-point summit in his 71-62 victory. Van Lith has become a Pick-And-Roll partner ideal for the Sedona Prince Center, which will be another focal point for the solid defense of Longhorns.
Prince scored 21 points and added six rebounds against the Irish, despite a third fault at the beginning of the third quarter. The way she behaves against the Texas Taylor Jones and Kyla Oldacre centers will greatly contribute to determining who is advancing.
Greater shot in the history of the program 🗡️ pic.twitter.com/jsydxqpm0t
– Women’s basketball TCU (@tcuwbb) March 30, 2025
Longhorns play an aggressive physical defense and force nearly 21 reversals per game, which ranks the 16th best in the country. Horn frogs, however, have only 12.1 reversals on average. The battle of turnover will be another factor to monitor.
Texas marks almost entirely because of its effectiveness inside the painting. The Longhorns are the last in the country at the rate of attempted 3 points, although they made 3 of the 7 against Tennessee. How horned frogs choose to defend Texas Wing Madison Booker will be another key question. TCU will likely be based on the Donovyn Hunter and Agnes Emma-Nnopu guards to defend, but Booker is larger and longer than the two horns of horns with horns, which creates another possible gap.
The choice: Texas
– Pickman
N ° 1 USC vs n ° 2 UCONN
9 p.m. Monday, ESPN, Spokane 4
When the support of the NCAA female tournament was revealed, this potential match – a revenge match of an Elite Eight match played in Portland last season – has instantly become the most anticipated Elite Eight match on the field. They had a classic force test in the tournament last season and met in the best rated women’s match of the regular season this year. The collision course of the two best players in the country at Juju Watkins and Paige Bueckers in the Eight Eight was too attractive to an appetizer in the Final Four.
Without Watkins, who suffered a tear from the LCA at the end of the season in the second round, the Trojan horses rallied against the hard state of Kansas in Sweet 16, based strongly on the first -year students Kennedy Smith, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel to play … what they did. But even with the superb leadership of veteran Kiki Iriafen, the USC faces its most difficult task of the season without its best player. A match is looming against Uconn, which plays an extremely high level behind Bueckers, and the opportunity is there to go to the Final Four for the first time since 1986.
Could this finally help Trojan horses know that they play mainly with the money of the house at this stage? Of course. Could their lack of experience be on the most brilliant scene of the season? It is also possible. There is a wide range of possibilities since the USC works with alignments that have not been really tested in battle this season.
This does not mean that the Huskies were the most coherent team in the country this season, but they are now playing their best basketball. Bueckers comes out of a better performance of 40 points in Sweet 16. She raised her play in playoffs with a feeling of emergency that makes Huskies particularly dangerous. Although the USC won the regular season’s force test, it required a performance of 25 points from Watkins to do so, and Azzi Fudd, Senior Uconn, had only recently returned from his ACL recovery trip and played eight minutes.
All these factors make it difficult to choose against Uconn. Bueckers may not leave for 40 on Monday, but it is simply too difficult to imagine that it does not cut these nets.
The choice: Uconn
– Chantel Jennings
(Photos of Paige Bueckers, on the left, and Kiki Iriafen: Tyler McFarland / NCAA photos via Getty Images, Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
