March Madness first, second round predictions, NCAA bracket picks for every women’s game

[ASFN Admin]

The field is set for the Women's NCAA Tournament, which means the madness can officially begin.

Sixty-eight teams are hoping to win the 2026 title, including undefeated and defending national champion UConn, veteran heavy UCLA, SEC Tournament champion Texas and SEC regular-season champion South Carolina.

But behind those No. 1 seeds are hungry and talented teams hoping to deliver as two seeds, upset as 10-16 seeds and carve their own name into March Madness history books.

UConn Geno Auriemma is hoping for his 13th national championship, South Carolina's Dawn Staley is looking for her fourth, Kim Mulkey hoping for her fifth and second at LSU, Vic Schaefer, Cori Close, Shea Ralph, Kara Lawson, Jan Jensen, Kim Barnes Arico, and Kenny Brooks are all looking to cut down the nets for the first time.

Here are predictions for which teams will make it out of the hosting rounds and advance to the Sweet 16 for March Madness.

Women's March Madness bracket predictions​

First Four games​

• No. 16 Missouri State over No. 16 Stephen F. Austin
• No. 11 Richmond over No. 11 Nebraska
• No. 16 Southern over No. 16 Samford
• No. 10 Virginia over No. 10 Arizona State

Storrs, Connecticut (Fort Worth 1 Regional)​

• No. 1 UConn over No. 16 UTSA
• No. 8 Iowa State over No. 9 Syracuse
• UConn beats Iowa State to advance to Sweet 16

Chapel Hill, North Carolina​

• No. 4 North Carolina over No. 13 Western Illinois
• No. 5 Maryland over No. 12 Murray State
• UNC over Maryland to advance to Sweet 16

Columbus, Ohio​

• No. 3 Ohio State over No. 13 Howard
• No. 11 Fairfield over No. 6 Notre Dame
• Fairfield beats Ohio State to advance to Sweet 16

Nashville, Tennessee​

• No. 2 Vanderbilt over No. 15 High Point
• No. 7 Illinois over No. 10 Colorado
• Vanderbilt beats Illinois to advance to Sweet 16

Los Angeles, California (Sacramento 2 Regional)​

• No. 1 UCLA over No. 16 Cal Baptist
• No. 8 Oklahoma State over No. 9 Princeton
• UCLA beats OSU to advance to Sweet 16

Minneapolis, Minnesota​

• No. 4 Minnesota over No. 13 Green Bay
• No. 5 Ole Miss over No. 12 Gonzaga
• Ole Miss beats Minnesota to advance to Sweet 16

Durham, North Carolina​

• No. 3 Duke over No. 14 Charleston
• No. 6 Baylor over No. 11 Richmond
• Duke beats Baylor to advance to Sweet 16

Baton Rouge, Louisiana​

• No. 2 LSU over No. 15 Jacksonville
• No. 10 Villanova over No. 7 Texas Tech
• LSU beats Villanova to advance to Sweet 16

Columbia, South Carolina (Sacramento 4 Regional)​

• No. 1 South Carolina over No. 16 Southern
• No. 8 Clemson over No. 9 Southern Cal
• South Carolina beats Clemson to advance to Sweet 16

Norman, Oklahoma​

• No. 4 Oklahoma over No. 13 Idaho
• No. 6 Washington beats No. 11 South Dakota State
• Oklahoma beats Washington to advance to Sweet 16

Fort Worth, Texas​

• No. 3 TCU over No. 14 UC San Diego
• No. 6 Washington over No. 11 South Dakota State
• TCU beats Washington to advance to Sweet 16

Iowa City, Iowa​

• No. 2 Iowa over No. 15 Farleigh Dickinson
• No. 7 Georgia over No. 10 Virginia
• Iowa beats Georgia to advance to Sweet 16

Austin, Texas (Fort Worth 3 Regional)​

• No. 1 Texas over No. 16 Missouri State
• No. 8 Oregon over No. 9 Virginia Tech
• Texas beats Oregon to advance to Sweet 16

Morgantown, West Virginia​

• No. 4 West Virginia beats No. 13 Miami Ohio
• No. 5 Kentucky beats No. 12 James Madison
• Kentucky beats West Virginia to advance to Sweet 16

Louisville, Kentucky​

• No. 11 Rhode Island over No. 6 Alabama
• No. 3 Louisville over No. 14 Vermont
• Louisville beats URI to advance to Sweet 16

Ann Arbor, Michigan​

• No. 7 NC State over No. 10 Tennessee
• No. 2 Michigan over No. 15 Holy Cross
• Michigan over NC State to advance to Sweet 16

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: March Madness predictions for first two rounds of women’s NCAA bracket

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