March Madness bracket predictions: Cinderellas, upsets, Final Four picks and more for women's NCAA tournament

· Yahoo Sports

After months of waiting, March Madness is finally here.

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The First Four is set for Wednesday and Thursday, but that's merely an appetizer to the main course that picks up on Friday when the NCAA tournament will be in full swing.

So what can we expect over the next three weeks? Our experts weigh in with their predictions for which No. 1 seeds are the most vulnerable, which teams are the best Cinderella picks, Final Four teams, national championship winners and more.

[Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem: Make your picks for $50K in total prizes]

If there were ever a year to automatically pencil in every No. 1 to the Final Four and feel good about it, this might be it. The four-pack of UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina stood above the rest and is the third collection of teams to earn No. 1 seeds the year after they all played in the Final Four. They finished this season as four of the top five teams in net rating, led by UConn (plus-53.1) and extending down to South Carolina’s plus-39.3 that is nine points higher than the next-closest squad, according to CBB Analytics.  

The Huskies (34-0) put up one of their most dominant seasons ever despite losing All-American Paige Bueckers to the WNBA. UConn’s net rating is third all time, trailing two of the Breanna Stewart-led championship teams of the 2010s. A new best-in-program-history player is arriving in Sarah Strong, who could tie Stewart with four titles in four years. The 6-foot-2 forward makes everything look easy and paces this iteration with nearly unheard of shooting splits of 60.1% from the field, 42.7% from 3 and 87.3% from the free throw line. 

UCLA (31-1) went undefeated in the Big Ten with a 51-point win in the conference title game over Iowa. The Bruins only lost to Texas back in November. Texas (31-3) and South Carolina (31-3) took some hits in the SEC schedule, but still stood above the pack in a deep conference of heavyweight talent. 

At least one No. 2 or No. 3 seed has reached the Final Four every tournament since 2018, the last time all No. 1 seeds reached the final weekend. Only three times since 2009 have all No. 1s made it to the Final Four. So if putting through all four feels wrong, take a look at Sacramento 2 for an upset pick. LSU is the fifth team of the top five in NET rating at a second-best 43.7, though its numbers are bloated from a weak non-conference schedule in which it stacked 100-point outings like candy. Still, its guard group can torch a defense. 

In terms of a champion? Only three times since 2009 has a non-No. 1 seed won it all. Two of those are since 2023, and both of those teams were already mentioned here. UConn won as a No. 2 seed last April and LSU, with a freshman Flau’jae Johnson, took it all in 2023 as the No. 3 seed. Stick to the classics this year to avoid the bracket bust.

— Cassandra Negley

Who will be cutting down the nets in Phoenix in early April? (Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)

Printable NCAA brackets for both men’s and women’s tournaments
Tourney Bracket 101: How to choose upsets, make your picks
Women’s region breakdowns: Fort Worth 1 | Sacramento 2 | 3 | 4
6 NCAA tournament Cinderella picks
First-round tip times for the NCAA women’s tournament
Power ranking all the title contenders
Non-No. 1 seeds that could make the Final Four
4 teams with the best chance of knocking off UConn

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