Women’s Bracketology: 2026 NCAA tournament
By Charlie Creme Updated: 12/30/2025 at 8 a.m. ET
The break in the game schedule is over and conference play is here. The jog to March now turns into a full sprint. Bracketology picks up the pace, too, with updated projections coming twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) beginning next week.
Bracket Watch
There was plenty of shake-up over the first two months of the season. Teams like Texas Tech and Alabama have been much better than anticipated and remain unbeaten. Duke and Tennessee haven’t played to expectations. But the top five teams in Bracketology have stayed the same since the preseason — and it doesn’t look like that’s changing soon. No. 1 overall seed UConn and No. 2 Texas don’t look vulnerable. The Huskies are a heavy favorite to go undefeated in the regular season and only No. 3 overall South Carolina has pushed the Longhorns. Losses to either South Carolina or LSU in mid-January won’t be enough to knock Texas off the top line. The Gamecocks and Tigers also have firm grasps on their current positions. And with six Quad 1 wins, UCLA has built up a cushion and can afford a loss or maybe two in the Big Ten and still remain, at worst, the top No. 2 seed in the bracket.
On the Bubble
68-Team Bracket
Region 1 Fort Worth
Storrs
South Bend
College Park
Norman
Region 4 Sacramento
Los Angeles
Chapel Hill
Lexington
Baton Rouge
Region 2 Fort Worth
Austin
Louisville
Ames
Ann Arbor
Region 3 Sacramento
Columbia
Iowa City
Nashville
Fort Worth
Conference Breakdown
Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock
