The No. 2-seed UConn Huskies are atop college basketball once again, winning a record-extending 12th NCAA championship in a 82-59 blowout victory over No. 1-seed South Carolina on Sunday.
The title ends a nine-year drought for the dynasty program — the longest stretch without hoisting the trophy since the Huskies' first-ever national championship in 1995.
Trio of Huskies fuel UConn's championship grab
After dominating overall No. 1-seed UCLA 85-51 on Final Four Friday, UConn earned a season finale face-off against the defending champion Gamecocks, who punched their spot in Sunday's championship showdown by taking down No. 1-seed Texas 74-57 — South Carolina's third win over their SEC rival this season.
The big day, however, belonged to the Huskies, as UConn’s "Big Three" of star senior Paige Bueckers, standout guard Azzi Fudd, and freshman phenom Sarah Strong posted a combined 65 points to outscore South Carolina.
Fudd and Strong led the game's stat sheet by scoring 24 points each, helping Fudd snag the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honor — and earning Strong a new NCAA record.
After finishing March Madness with 114 total points across UConn's six-game run, the newly crowned 2024/25 Freshman of the Year broke the NCAA tournament's freshman scoring record, as Strong surpassed 2011 WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings, who posted 111 points in Tennessee's 1998 championship run.
As for graduating superstar Bueckers, her 17 points made her the Huskies' all-time NCAA tournament scoring leader, while Sunday's title cements her legacy, capping her college career by adding her name to the litany of UConn greats in the Storrs rafters.
"It's been a story of resilience, of gratitude, of overcoming adversity and just responding to life's challenges," said Bueckers after her last game as a Husky.
"This is one of the most emotional Final Fours and emotional national championships I've been a part of since that very first one," echoed head coach Geno Auriemma.
All in all, UConn overcame years of close calls, injury woes, and buzzer-beating heartbreak to restore their March Madness dynasty. With Fudd returning next season alongside Strong, the Huskies' future looks brighter than ever.
Final Four teams eye 2026 return
On the other side of the championship coin, the Gamecocks never quite hit their stride on Sunday, falling one game short of a back-to-back title after snagging a spot in their third championship game in four years.
"We lost to a very, very good basketball team," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the defeat. "They beat our ass, but they didn't make us like it. There's a difference."
Though Sunday’s loss stings, South Carolina's youthful core means the Gamecocks — like the young squads from Final Four teams UCLA and Texas — will be back, packing both March Madness experience and a hefty dose of vengeance next year.
"I hope they're crying," Staley said of her returning players. "I hope they're boo-hoo-ing because from crying they have emotion about losing, makes you work hard in the offseason."
It's a sentiment echoed by the 2024/25 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, UCLA star Lauren Betts.
"We have the same team coming next year," Betts said of the Bruins' underclass core after Friday's Final Four loss. "I hope this fuels us, and I hope that we come out angry after this."
After faltering in their own Final Four matchup on Friday, Texas head coach Vic Schaefer offered a similar silver lining.
"It won't be easier tonight or tomorrow, but it will be easier knowing them three are around," Schaefer said of Longhorn underclassmen Madison Booker, Bree Hall, and Jordan Lee. "They are competitors. And again, they’re kids that invest in their craft."
The Final Four squads unable to seal the deal this season will rue an opportunity lost, but with another year of development, expect the same names to dominate the news cycle next March.
When Texas takes on South Carolina this Friday, they’ll be playing for more than a shot at the NCAA tournament championship title.
That's because this year's Final Four is a rematch, marking the fourth meeting between the Longhorns and the reigning national champion Gamecocks this season. Now, Texas is looking for a little revenge against their top-ranked SEC rivals.
Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer knows South Carolina well. It’s a competitive relationship that dates back to his time coaching Mississippi State, where he led the Bulldogs to the 2017 title game. And the story is strikingly similar.
“I think in '17, we played them three times also, before we played them in the Final Four,” Schaefer said after Monday’s Elite Eight win over TCU. “I think that was our fourth time when we played them in the national championship game.”
Staley got the best of Schaefer back then, with South Carolina defeating the Longhorns 67-55 on the way to their first-ever national championship. On Friday, Texas will attempt to flip the script against the 2024 champs, in hopes of securing the team’s first NCAA title in over 30 years.
“That's the thing about Dawn's teams, is that you know you're going to get the same from them that you try to impart on others, too,” Schaefer continued. “They're going to be tough.”
While this Texas squad has showcased their own toughness all season long, South Carolina has once again proven to be a formidable foe. The Gamecocks downed the Longhorns 67-50 in their first clash back in January. Subsequently, the loss served as a valuable lesson, lighting a fire under Texas that they’ve carried with them ever since.
“If you’re going to be a top team you have to beat a top team,” star sophomore Madison Booker told Just Women’s Sports ahead of the 2025 SEC tournament. “Reality hits you right there.”
“After that [game], we kind of figured we weren’t preparing right,” she continued. “We weren’t preparing like we want to win championships. We weren’t preparing like we want to beat top teams, or be a top team. So we had to change.”
That late January defeat launched Texas into a 16-game winning streak. They went on to finish out the regular season without dropping a single additional game.
Moving to the SEC puts Texas in a whole new league
Joining the SEC in 2024 after 28 years in the Big 12, the Longhorns have adapted smoothly. They’ve shown that they know what it takes to become a true title contender, building on two straight appearances in the Elite Eight to punch their ticket to the program’s first Final Four in two decades.
The conference move didn’t hurt, said Schaefer. The coach credited what he calls “a different league" for challenging his players to grow this season.
“I say it all the time, we jumped out of the frying pan and into the grease,” he said of the leap to the SEC. “It’s a different style, it’s certainly more physical. It’s a league that challenges you every night. You win on the road in this league, it’s like a win and a half.”
“This whole conference [season], I feel like people have been throwing some different stuff at me,” Booker emphasized on JWS podcast Sports are Fun! with Kelley O’Hara. “Box-and-one, face guarding, double- or triple-team. I think I’ve seen it all.”
Despite the competition, the Longhorns played to a 17-0 home record this year. Additionally, they gave up just one non-conference game to Notre Dame last December. Booker saw another excellent season, leading Texas in scoring on her way to winning SEC Player of the Year. And senior Rori Harmon’s return from injury gave Texas yet another boost, with the trusted point guard guiding Texas’s offense through difficult defensive sets with steady composure.
In early February, Texas settled the regular-season score with South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 66-62. And the win was bigger than the rivalry. It shot the Longhorns to the top of the AP Poll rankings. That boost saw Texas enter the SEC tournament as the country's No. 1 team.
And after ousting Ole Miss and LSU in the conference tournament’s first two rounds, there was only one team left to beat.
Texas basketball's bumpy road to the NCAA tournament
Texas reveled in wins as they came, whether it was going undefeated at home, winning a regular-season conference title, or progressing through the SEC tournament. But after each game, the same common refrain would emanate from the huddle: “What did Kobe say? JOB’S NOT FINISHED.”
“I think everyone understands what’s at stake here,” said Harmon ahead of Texas’s SEC conference final against South Carolina. “There’s definitely a chip on our shoulder. We need to get stuff done.”
Playing on their biggest stage yet, however, the Longhorns once again couldn’t hold off South Carolina. Eventually, they fell to the Gamecocks 64-45 in March's SEC championship. Rings aside, South Carolina had become Texas’s Achilles heel, with the SEC’s gold standard responsible for two-thirds of their losses going into March Madness.
Despite their late stumble, Texas still entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. The Longhorns then became more interested in defining their season from that point on, rather than wallowing in opportunities lost.
“You’re talking about a six-game winning streak. To win a national championship, you gotta win six in a row,” Schaefer said, sizing up the road ahead.
Taking March Madness by storm
So far, Texas has held up their side of the bargain. They’ve battled through four NCAA tournament rounds, downing March Madness debutant William & Mary, No. 8 seed Illinois, and tricky Tennessee side. Finally, they toppled a determined TCU team to set up a fourth date with their SEC rival.
And they know full well that they’ll have to tackle this next game as if it was their last.
“It probably means a little bit more [this year], there’s seniors on the team, including me,” Harmon noted. “But this is the team that can do it.”
After turning a solid regular season into a breakout year, everyone in the Texas locker room is firmly on the same page. Intensity and poise got them to the Final Four. Now they’ll have to trust that process to get over the same hurdle that has haunted them throughout the season.
“There is so much on the line, but you've gotta just go play,” Schaefer said on Saturday. “That game is very difficult, and you gotta have kids that can just kinda block out all the distractions, and everything around 'em, and just go play the game.”
The message in the huddle remains the same, because despite all their accomplishments, the job is far from finished. And no one’s lost sight of the bigger picture.
“We're here for a reason,” Harmon said earlier this week. “We worked hard for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. And we put our faith into that.”
Watch more: 'Can Texas Make a Tourney Run?' on Just Women's Sports
No. 1 seed Texas and No. 2 seed UConn punched their tickets to Tampa last night, joining No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina in the Final Four after two tight matchups closed out the NCAA tournament’s fourth round.
Texas got the best of in-state foe TCU 58-47, behind a game-high 18-point performance from SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker.
UConn then handled USC 78-64, holding off the JuJu Watkins-less Trojans as superstar guard Paige Bueckers followed up her career-high 40-point Sweet 16 performance by dropping 31 points on the night.
"We're just so grateful, but we know like the journey isn't done," Bueckers said after the game. "We want our story to continue as long as possible, and we have business to finish."
Texas books first Final Four appearance since 2003
After four Elite Eight appearances in five years, the Longhorns finally punched their ticket to the Final Four — their first time back since 2003 — behind a tenacious defense that forced 21 TCU turnovers.
“Anybody that watched that game today, when they turned the TV off, they had to go, ‘Wow, that freaking team plays their ass off,’” Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said after the game.
"I'm having fun with it now," Booker told reporters. "March Madness — you’re supposed to have fun."
"I’m so proud of myself and proud of my team to get to this moment," Harmon said after registering 13 points against TCU.
"Rori Harmon is still that girl," echoed Booker.
Bueckers leads UConn to the NCAA Final Four
The Huskies are headed to their fourth Final Four in the last five years. They advanced on a balanced scoring strategy that saw three different players put double-digit points on the board.
In addition to Bueckers’s 30-piece, freshman phenom Sarah Strong ran the frontcourt. Strong paired 22 points with 17 rebounds and four assists for her fifth postseason double-double. Additionally, Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen bolstered the backcourt with 15 points of her own.
"There's Disneyland, there's Disney World and then there's UConn World," Auriemma said. "These are fantasy numbers that make no sense. You couldn't predict this and you couldn't script this at all."
All four remaining teams have the potential to win a national championship. Now it’s a matter of who can deliver when the going gets tough.
The Madness returns today, as the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 putsthe season’s most prolific performers to the test in a series of top-seeded showdowns.
This year’s third round is all Top 5 seeds, with blockbuster matchups expected to bring the heat well before the Final Four.
NCAA tournament history sets teams up for success
With the Cinderellas now silenced, many teams still in contention enter the Sweet 16 armed with a history of NCAA tournament success.
No. 1 seed South Carolina tips off against No. 4 seed Maryland today, as the Gamecocks vie for their fifth straight Elite Eight after winning two national titles in the last four years.
Up-and-down No. 3 seed LSU makes a play for their third straight Elite Eight berth tonight — not to mention an attempted repeat of their 2023 championship win.
No. 1 seed Texas looks to advance to their fourth Elite Eight in the five years tomorrow, hunting a return to the Final Four for the first time since 2003.
Later, No. 2 seed UConn aims for their fourth Final Four bid in the last five seasons, coming as close as 2022’s title game before reaching the semis last year.
Both rookies and vets feel the Sweet 16 heat
Experience can go a long way when the spotlight gets a little brighter, but pressure also mounts as blue-chip programs face the chopping board.
One notable first-time Sweet 16 matchup is this afternoon’s clash between in-state rivals No. 2 seed Duke and No. 3 seed North Carolina, with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
Tomorrow, No. 3 seed Notre Dame meets No. 2 seed TCU, as the Irish fight to regain their regular-season dominance while the Horned Frogs try to extend their underdog campaign with their first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.
And with razor-thin margins across the board, confidence will play a key role in making it to the competition’s coveted fourth round. “We're a bunch of fighters, and we respond when we’re challenged,” Notre Dame senior Sonia Citron said after last Sunday’s 76-55 win over Michigan.
Sizing up Elite Eight contenders
While not exactly upset territory, Sunday’s Elite Eight will likely feature tense battles between teams looking to hang onto late-season consistency and those running on turnaround momentum.
After losing to eventual conference champion Duke in the ACC semifinal, a refreshed No. 3 seed Notre Dame heads into tomorrow’s Sweet 16 hot off of winning their first two NCAA tournament games by an average of 36.5 points.
After injuries derailed their SEC tournament dreams, No. 3 seed LSU has similarly picked up the pace, putting together two consecutive 100+ point games in the NCAA tournament’s first two rounds.
No. 5 seed Kansas State wouldn’t normally be an issue for No. 1 seed USC, but after losing superstar JuJu Watkins to an ACL tear on Monday, the Trojans might have to rally to get the job done.
And while “underdog” is a stretch, the greatest momentum shift might belong to No. 2 seed UConn, with Bueckers and co. firing on all cylinders despite dropping several ranked matchups this season.
Where to watch NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games this weekend
The Sweet 16 tips off today at 2:30 PM ET, with all games airing across ESPN platforms.
After Saturday’s Sweet 16 finale determines the field, the Elite Eight tips off on Sunday at 1 PM ET, with live coverage across ESPN platforms.
With the March Madness No. 1 seeds evenly split between the Big Ten and SEC, April’s Final Four becoming a conference tournament championship rematch doubleheader is very much on the table.
The quadrants led by SEC tournament finalists South Carolina and Texas share one side of the bracket, meaning the Gamecocks and Longhorns could meet before the 2024/25 NCAA championship game in an all-conference semifinal.
Similarly, crosstown rivals UCLA and USC top the other two quadrants, putting the LA teams on course for all-Big Ten semifinal.
Both conference pairs have already faced off three times this season, with South Carolina holding a 2-1 2024/25 record over Texas and USC riding into the Big Dance with the same record over UCLA.
Other top teams hunt rematches with NCAA No. 1 seeds
Before the No. 1 seeds lock in on any all-conference semis, however, they must advance past other elite contenders — some of whom have recent beef with the quadrant queens.
No. 3 seed Notre Dame — the only team to fail to snag a No. 1 March Madness spot after reaching the AP Poll's top ranking this season — awaits a possible 2024/25 rematch with Texas in the Elite Eight round, with the Irish eyeing a second season victory over the Longhorns after toppling Texas 80-70 in December.
As for No. 1-seed USC, the Trojans sit on a collision course with No. 2 UConn, setting up what could be a second-straight Elite Eight battle between the pair. The Huskies won last year's encounter 80-73 behind 28 points from superstar Paige Bueckers, before falling to eventual tournament runners-up Iowa in the 2023/24 Final Four.
That said, USC already defeated UConn once this season, with sophomore phenom JuJu Watkins putting up 25 points in the the Trojans' narrow 72-70 December win.
For these potential non-conference games, the rematches are somewhat by design, as top programs try to stack their schedules with the NCAA's best teams each season, both to challenge their rosters and to build their NCAA tournament resumes.
"If you play a good enough schedule, you're always going to run into somebody you've already seen," explained legendary UConn head coach Geno Auriemma earlier this week.
While bracket busters could impede an all No. 1-seed Final Four, no team seeded lower than No. 3 has ever won an NCAA championship, meaning at least a few of these top-tier rematches are likely in the coming weeks.
How to watch the Women's March Madness tournament first round
No. 6-seed Michigan and First Four winner No. 11-seed Iowa State open the tournament, tipping off March Madness at 11:30 AM ET on Friday, with live coverage on ESPN2.
The first top seed to take the court in Friday's 16-game slate is South Carolina, who will face No. 16-seed Tennessee Tech at 4 PM ET before UCLA closes out the night against First Four winner No. 16-seed Southern at 10 PM ET.
Both No. 1-seed games will air live on ESPN.
The 2024/25 NCAA basketball tournament bracket is officially locked in, as Selection Sunday saw March Madness favorites, underdogs, and a few surprises claim their tickets to the Big Dance.
After winning the Big Ten tournament one week prior, UCLA not only earned the NCAA competition's overall top spot, but the Bruins claimed their first-ever No. 1 seed in program history.
Sitting atop the three other quadrants are SEC tournament title-winners and NCAA defending champions South Carolina as well as conference runners-up Texas and USC, giving both the SEC and Big Ten two of the tournament's top contenders.
Chasing the four top teams as No. 2 seeds are Big 12 tournament champs TCU, ACC tournament winners Duke, ACC runners-up NC State, and Big East champions UConn, whose late-season momentum wasn't quite enough to life the Huskies above a second-spot bid.
In a season that saw a record-tying four teams reach No. 1 in the AP Poll, three (UCLA, South Carolina, and Texas) claimed NCAA No. 1 seeds, with once-No. 1 ranked Notre Dame falling out of top-seed contention after losing three of their last five games.
The Irish will now tip off their March Madness campaign as a No. 3 seed alongside 2022/23 NCAA champs LSU, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
Snagging the tournament's last hosting spots are the No. 4 seeds, meaning Ohio State, Kentucky, Baylor, and Maryland will all have home-court advantage through the competition’s first two rounds.
Coaches question NCAA committee's seeding decisions
While some teams were thrilled with their placements, a tinge of disappointment overshadowed other top contenders’ watch parties.
"I never thought I'd be a No. 1 seed and feel disrespected," said USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb after learning the NCAA committee awarded the Trojans the last top seed, ranking them fourth overall.
"It's not an arrogance of any kind, I think that there's a lot of really good teams...but I would love to ask [this committee] some questions."
Head coach Dawn Staley had a similar reaction to South Carolina's positioning, saying "I'm a little bit surprised."
"I'd like to get some feedback on how they came to that conclusion," said Staley. "We put together, manufactured, a schedule that — if done right — should produce the overall No. 1 seed."
The NCAA committee broke down their determination of the Gamecocks on ESPN, explaining that South Carolina’s head-to-head November loss to UCLA plus last month's 29-point nonconference defeat at the hands of UConn played major roles in the decision.
Despite the disappointment, Gottlieb says her team is ready to take care of business.
"You've gotta play the first game in front of you and earn your way from there, and that's what we'll do."
Big Ten makes NCAA March Madness bracket history
With 12 teams booking spots in the Big Dance, the Big Ten not only earned the season’s most NCAA tournament bids, it also smashed the Division I record for the most programs in a single conference to make a March Madness bracket.
With a conference-record 10 teams, the SEC closely followed the Big Ten, while eight ACC squads and seven Big 12 programs round out the Power Four's 37 total berths.
Also experiencing a record-setting Selection Sunday was the Ivy League, which saw three teams sneak into the competition for the first time in the eight-program conference's history.
After upsetting their way through last weekend's conference competition, Ivy League tournament champions Harvard secured a No. 10 seed on Sunday, while both Columbia and Princeton have a shot at snagging a No. 11 seed as contenders in the NCAA's First Four games.
Dancing for the first time are six teams, with Arkansas State, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, Grand Canyon, UC San Diego, and William & Mary all set to make their NCAA tournament debuts later this week.
To be the best, teams must beat the best, and the talent concentrated at the top of the NCAA bracket — regardless of seeding — is guaranteed to make for some tough competition.
How to watch the First Four March Madness games
While the the official first round of the 2024/25 NCAA basketball tournament doesn't begin until Friday, the March Madness action will tip off with the First Four round on Wednesday, when eight teams will battle for the final four spots in the 64-team bracket.
Stepping into Wednesday's spotlight are Princeton and Iowa State, who will take the court at 7 PM ET before UC San Diego takes on Southern at 9 PM ET.
Then on Thursday, Washington will face Columbia at 7 PM ET, with William & Mary's match against High Point wrapping up the First Four round at 9 PM ET.
The Huskies' Thursday clash with the Lions will air live on ESPN2, with the other three First Four games earning live coverage on ESPNU.
Print complete NCAA Women's March Madness bracket
ESPN’s women's college basketball coverage has exploded across the broadcast giant's platforms, with regular-season viewership 3% up from last year’s record-breaking run and 41% up from 2022/23.
ESPN reports that 2024/25’s overall ratings were their highest since the 2008/09 season, with 2.9 billion minutes of live women's college basketball games consumed.
While this year’s regular-season peaks outdrew last year’s top matchups, ESPN also saw significant growth in steady viewership.
Across the 87 games the broadcaster aired, each game averaged 280,000 viewers, with a record-breaking 15 games drawing over 500,000 viewers.
Due to network partnership deals, ESPN is still missing the rights to Big Ten coverage, while the SEC continues to pull in the heaviest numbers.
Flagship channels see top women's college basketball viewership
The company's flagship networks also saw significant individual ratings growth in their NCAA women's basketball coverage. Games on ESPN drew an average of 511,000 fans, for an increase of 13% over last season's coverage on the network.
Even more, the three games the broadcaster upgraded to ABC gave the channel an average of 1.3 million viewers, for an overall increase of 120% over 2023/24 games.
ABC also the regular season's two biggest audiences.
Just one week after ESPN broke the 1 million viewer mark with then-No. 4 Texas' upset win over No. 2 South Carolina, ABC's February 16th UConn vs. South Carolina plus Texas vs. LSU shattered double-header that stat.
Then-No. 5 UConn’s 87-58 blowout of the reigning national champion Gamecocks attracted the season’s biggest audience, garnering an average of 1.8 million viewers with a peak of 2.2 million.
Texas’s 65-58 victory over the then-No. 7 Tigers snagged the 2024/25 season's second-biggest audience, peaking at 2.3 million viewers while drawing an average of 1.7 million fans.
Besides leading this season's ratings, those two blockbuster matchups registered as the third and fourth highest regular-season women's college basketball viewership in ESPN's history.
After a highly competitive 2024/25 NCAA basketball season, regular-season conference champions will be crowned this weekend — an accolade that comes with coveted No. 1 seeding in conference tournaments as teams eye March’s national stage.
In the SEC, the fate of two top contenders is coming down to the wire, as No. 1 Texas and No. 6 South Carolina sit in a dead heat ahead of their final two regular-season games.
Tied 13-1 in conference play with 1-1 head-to-head records, both teams will split the regular-season title should they win-out their final matchups — forcing conference commissioner Greg Sankey to literally flip a coin to determine which elite squad receives the SEC tournament’s No. 1 seed.
Who deserves to be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament if both squads win out? ⬇️
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) February 26, 2025
(h/t @MattDowellTV) pic.twitter.com/83Vk0uVm5y
Of course, conference realignment may have played a role in the SEC’s current conundrum. Imbalanced schedules seem to have created unexpected crowding at the top of the conference table.
"I think we could have thought a little bit more ahead of this situation, knowing that we were bringing a Texas and an Oklahoma into the SEC," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said earlier this week.
"[Texas will] probably want us to drop a game," the three-time national champion coach joked. "I hope they drop a game, too — take it out of the commissioner's hands."
While photo finishes can be exciting, a coin toss in this scenario could ultimately serve as a catalyzing force for teams to harness some revenge on March's tournament courts.
How to watch Texas and South Carolina basketball in the SEC this week
Both top-ranked teams will shoot to dominate the court on Thursday night, with No. 1 Texas visiting unranked Mississippi State at 7:30 PM ET, with live coverage on SECN+.
Subsequently, No. 6 South Carolina will take on unranked Ole Miss at 9 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.
Thursday night wins would set Texas up to close out the 2024/25 NCAA basketball season by hosting unranked Florida at 2 PM ET on Sunday. At the same time, No. 15 Kentucky will visit South Carolina for their regular-season finale.
For the first time in 21 years, Texas basketball is the No. 1 team in the nation, with the AP Poll minting the Longhorns as the fourth top-ranked NCAA team of the season on Monday.
"I'm so happy for my kids, they’ve earned where they are today," Texas head coach Vic Schaefer told the AP ahead of his team’s resounding 57-26 win over unranked Georgia on Monday. "There's so much parity in the game right now."
The Longhorns’ leap comes after then-No. 1 Notre Dame’s double-overtime loss to NC State on Sunday, a result that sent the Irish falling to No. 3 in the rankings. The Wolfpack, on the other hand, earned one of the week's biggest boosts due to the marquee win, jumping four spots to No. 9.
After spending 12 weeks at No. 1 before now-No. 4 USC snapped a school-record 23-game unbeaten streak earlier this month, UCLA also benefitted from Notre Dame’s slip-up, rising one spot to sit at No. 2.
Along with reigning champion No. 6 South Carolina, who began the 2024/25 NCAA season as the No. 1 team, there have now been four squads atop this season's AP Polls. There have never been more than four to reach that summit in the survey’s history.
Small shifts litter Monday's AP Top 25
Similar to the minor changes in the Top 3, the Poll’s remaining 22 teams saw mostly incremental shifts as the final 2024/25 NCAA regular-season weekend looms.
ACC standouts No. 24 Florida State and No. 25 Louisville re-entered the rankings this week after snagging upset victories over then-No. 20 Georgia Tech and then-No. 11 Duke, respectively. As a result, the now-unranked Yellow Jackets joined Illinois in exiting this week's poll.
The Blue Devils saw the biggest drop after their loss to the Cardinals, falling five spots to No. 16, while last week's upset loss to unranked Indiana sent Ohio State down four spots this week to No. 12.
How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball games this week
With most major regular-season conference titles boiling down to this final week of play, some of the fiercest matchups are on deck this week.
The top two teams in three major conferences will fight for trophies and postseason seeding this week, with the Big East's No. 5 UConn hosting No. 22 Creighton at 7 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on CBS Sports Network.
Then on Saturday, a No. 4 USC vs. No. 2 UCLA rematch will decide the Big Ten at 9 PM ET, with live coverage on Fox.
Sunday will see the Big 12 crown their season champion after No. 17 Baylor battles No. 10 TCU for the honor at 6:30 PM ET, airing live on FS1.
AP College Basketball Top 25: Week 17
1. Texas (27-2, SEC)
2. UCLA (26-1, Big Ten)
3. Notre Dame (24-3, ACC)
4. USC (25-2, Big Ten)
5. UConn (26-3, Big East)
6. South Carolina (25-3, SEC)
7. LSU (27-2, SEC)
8. North Carolina (25-4, ACC)
9. NC State (22-5, ACC)
10. TCU (26-3, Big 12)
11. Tennessee (21-6, SEC)
12. Ohio State (23-4, Big Ten)
13. Oklahoma (21-6, SEC)
14. Kansas State (25-5, Big 12)
15. Kentucky (21-5, SEC)
16. Duke (21-7, ACC)
17. Baylor (25-5, Big 12)
18. West Virginia (21-6, Big 12)
19. Maryland (21-6, Big Ten)
20. Alabama (22-6, SEC)
21. Oklahoma State (22-5, Big 12)
22. Creighton (23-4, Big East)
23. Michigan State (20-7, Big Ten)
24. Florida State (22-6, ACC)
25. Louisville (19-8, ACC)
ESPN scored a pair of blockbuster wins last weekend, as Sunday’s NCAA basketball doubleheader featuring No. 5 UConn vs. No. 6 South Carolina plus No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 LSU earned the network record viewership.
First, UConn’s 87-58 blowout of the reigning national champion Gamecocks garnered an average of 1.8 million viewers with a peak of 2.2 million. Later, Texas’s 65-58 victory over the Tigers peaked at 2.3 million viewers while drawing an average of 1.7 million fans.
The back-to-back lineup became the most-watched women's basketball games across ESPN platforms this season. Even more, the matchups registered the third and fourth highest regular-season viewership in the NCAA sport in the broadcast giant's history.
Sunday’s pregame show also put up impressive numbers, becoming the most-watched regular-season Women’s College Gameday since 2010.
Notably, Sunday's doubleheader aired on the broadcast conglomerate's flagship network, ABC — placing some of the country's tops college stars into a prime national spotlight.
Fans tune in as NCAA season sprints toward March Madness
With March's postseason play fast approaching, interest in top NCAA basketball programs — and the elite stars on their rosters — continues to explode throughout the 2024/25 regular season.
ESPN’s ratings have risen accordingly, with UConn’s December upset loss to Notre Dame averaging 847,000 viewers, while South Carolina’s win over SEC rivals LSU averaged 1.56 million fans last month.
Ultimately, when major networks elevate regular-season women's college basketball games, fans consistently respond with massive viewership numbers. For ESPN, there’s nowhere to go but up, as the NCAA tournament rights-holder keeps successfully pushing college coverage.
How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball on Thursday
With almost 260 college basketball games earning airtime across ESPN's platforms this week, 16 of the country's Top 25 teams will be featured on the broadcaster's networks before next Wednesday.
Top Thursday matchups include an SEC clash between No. 18 Alabama and hosts No. 15 Tennessee, which tips off at 6:30 PM ET and will stream live on ESPN subsidiary SECN+.
Earning a prime broadcast spot on ESPN2 is No. 11 Duke, who will host unranked Louisville at 7 PM ET.