In the NCAA Women's Tournament, the slippers didn't fit. Much like on the men's side, Cinderella did not make it to the ball this year, and the powerhouse teams in the bracket all survived the first weekend. No team ranked lower than a No. 5 seed advanced to the Sweet 16, and the top three seeds in each region are still alive.
We all love Cinderella. But we also all love high-quality basketball, and the Sweet 16 will deal us that in spades this weekend. Here's how the conferences stack up after two rounds of Madness.
Every conference's record in the 2025 Women's NCAA Tournament
Conference | # of teams | Record |
|---|---|---|
America East | 1 | 0-1 |
American | 1 | 0-1 |
A-10 | 2 | 1-2 |
ACC | 8 | 10-4 |
ASUN | 1 | 0-1 |
Big 12 | 7 | 7-5 |
Big East | 2 | 2-1 |
Big Sky | 1 | 0-1 |
Big South | 1 | 0-1 |
Big Ten | 12 | 11-10 |
Big West | 1 | 0-1 |
CAA | 1 | 1-1 |
C-USA | 1 | 0-1 |
Horizon League | 1 | 0-1 |
Ivy League | 3 | 1-3 |
MAAC | 1 | 0-1 |
MAC | 1 | 0-1 |
MEAC | 1 | 0-1 |
Missouri Valley | 1 | 0-1 |
Mountain West | 1 | 0-1 |
Northeast | 1 | 0-1 |
OVC | 1 | 0-1 |
Patriot | 1 | 0-1 |
SEC | 10 | 15-4 |
Southern | 1 | 0-1 |
Southland | 1 | 0-1 |
SWAC | 1 | 1-1 |
Summit | 1 | 1-1 |
Sun Belt | 1 | 0-1 |
WCC | 1 | 0-1 |
WAC | 1 | 0-1 |
SEC rolls into Sweet 16 with six teams
That record is not a fluke; the SEC is 15-4 in the NCAA Tournament so far, and six teams are on to the Sweet 16; South Carolina, LSU, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee all survived the first weekend. This number was really close to being eight, but Kentucky lost an OT thriller to Kansas State, and Alabama lost a 2OT thriller(er?) to Maryland.
While South Carolina should handle Maryland with (relative) ease in the Sweet 16, the other SEC teams are in for some grinders. Oklahoma has to play Paige Bueckers and UConn, who have scored 194 points in two tourney games so far. Good heavens. LSU runs into a dominant NC State team, Ole Miss has to play top-seeded UCLA, and Tennessee and Texas play the first intra-conference game for the SEC in this tourney.
A new chapter in the Duke vs. North Carolina rivalry
After cruising to first-round victories, both Duke and North Carolina were challenged a bit more in the second round — the Blue Devils were down at halftime to the No. 10-seeded — but prevailed in the end. Now, fans get a third installment of Duke vs. UNC, a matchup the teams split during the regular season. The first game was, uh, in proper terms, disgusting. UNC won 53-46 in overtime. There were 33 made shots. Combined. All game. Let's hope the Sweet 16 matchup looks nothing like that! Please!
Paige Bueckers, UConn are sole Big East team remaining
After Creighton's loss in the first round, UConn stood alone as the only Big East team remaining in the field. The Huskies put together one of the most flawless offensive performances I've seen in my (REDACTED) years of living in the first round, and then followed that up with another monster game. If a conference is going to have jut one team standing, this isn't a bad option.