10 Hottest Teams Entering the 2025 Women’s College Basketball Tournament

We learn a lot about teams over the course of a college basketball season, but some teams start off hot and cool down.

Others peak at the right time: in March as they enter the D1 college basketball tournament.

It's never a bad thing to seek out the top teams by recent performance entering the championship bracket, so let's take a look at the 10 hottest women's college basketball teams entering this year's tournament.

Using Bart Torvik’s BARTHAG metric -- an indicator of a team’s odds of beating an average D1 team -- let’s check out the 10 hottest teams since the start of February.

All women's college basketball tournament odds via FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change after publication.

Hottest Teams in the Women’s College Basketball Tournament

UConn (2 Seed, Spokane - Region 4)

Odds to Win Tournament: +250

Yes, a 2 seed is the hottest women's college basketball team entering this year's tournament.

Since February 1st, the UConn Huskies enter with the top-ranked adjusted offense and defense, via BartTorvik's metrics, to post an adjusted net rating of +58.0, which is 6.7 points better than any other team's mark in that span.

In this sample, the Huskies are 11-1, with that lone loss coming on the road against Tennessee, who earned a 5 seed in this year's bracket, by just four points. In mid-February, they beat South Carolina 87-58 on the road.

UConn is only 5-3 against Quad 1 opponents (with losses to Notre Dame and Tennessee on the road and USC at home), but the data says they're on fire since February 1st.

South Carolina (1 Seed, Birmingham - Region 2)

Odds to Win Tournament: +230

A hot finish to the end of the season and a 30-3 overall record wasn't enough for South Carolina to earn the top overall seed in this year's tournament. Yet they're still a 1 seed and are entering the tournament with a 10-2 record since February.

Notably, they lost big to UConn at home (87-58) after dropping a road game to Texas by four the week prior in February.

Still, the Gamecocks own the second-best offense and fifth-best defense since February 1st.

It's no real surprise that UConn and South Carolina are the two favorites to win this year's title.

Notre Dame (3 Seed, Birmingham - Region 3)

Odds to Win Tournament: +1300

Perhaps a surprising name on the list this high due to their post-January record, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are in great form -- according to the data.

They're just 8-3 since February 1st, but their losses in this span are at NC State (a 2 seed) and at home versus Florida St. (a 6 seed) and Duke (a 2 seed).

Notre Dame's defense is 2nd-best since February, and its offense ranks 19th, a dip from the 8th-best offensive adjusted efficiency on the full season.

Still, we see a +45.0 net rating from Hannah Hidalgo and the Fighting Irish, third-best in the country, since February -- thanks to some big wins in this stretch.

Texas (1 Seed, Birmingham - Region 3)

Odds to Win Tournament: +700

With a 10-1 record since February, the Texas Longhorns enter the tournament as a 1 seed with title aspirations.

That sole loss was to South Carolina (64-45) in the SEC tournament.

Texas also lost to South Carolina 67-50 on the road in mid-January. Their other loss this season was an 80-70 defeat to Notre Dame in overtime -- also on the road.

Their offense is 23rd in this recent sample, but their defense ranks 3rd. On the full year, they're top-six in both.

UCLA (1 Seed, Spokane - Region 1)

Odds to Win Tournament: +600

The top overall seed in the 2025 women's college basketball tournament, the UCLA Bruins are 10-2 since February and have top-10 offensive (6th) and defensive (9th) metrics in that span.

Their two losses in this timeframe were their only losses of the season -- and both were to USC (one at home and one on the road).

UCLA's Quad 1 record overall is 13-2, and only one team has been able to solve the problem that UCLA poses. UCLA also beat USC 72-67 in the Big Ten tournament.

USC (1 Seed, Spokane - Region 4)

Odds to Win Tournament: +800

JuJu Watkins and the USC Trojans are firmly on this list, but their post-February net rating of +42.8 is a tier behind UConn's (+58.0) and South Carolinas (+51.3).

Still, they're top-15 in adjusted offense and defense and are able to push the pace (8th) and limit three-point attempts (25th).

Since February, they've lost to Iowa (on the road) and UCLA in the Big Ten tournament.

Duke (2 Seed, Birmingham - Region 2)

Odds to Win Tournament: +3500

The Duke Blue Devils have some respectable losses since February 1st: at NC State (a 2 seed), at Notre Dame (a 3 seed), and home to Louisville (a 7 seed), yet all three losses were by at least six points.

In Quad 1 games on the full season, Duke is just 8-5.

As usual in the women's game, the drop-off from the truly elite and all the rest is drastic. We also see that as evidenced by +3500 odds to win the title despite top-seven efficiency metrics for the entire season.

Still, they can clean the offensive glass (12th since February) and cause turnovers (15th) to create some havoc.

TCU (2 Seed, Birmingham - Region 3)

Odds to Win Tournament: +5000

The veteran-led TCU Horned Frogs qualify as a hot team entering the tournament with their 11-1 record since February 1st. Their lone loss was to Kansas State on the road.

Led by a top-three offense in recent weeks, TCU can be a real menace with hot shooting and by defending the arc (they're third in three-point attempt rate allowed since February 1st).

Baylor (4 Seed, Spokane - Region 1)

Odds to Win Tournament: +15000

The Baylor Bears might live and die by the three in the women's college basketball tournament.

Since February, they're 18th in three-point field goal percentage (38.5%) and 5th in defense as measured by opponent three-point shooting (23.7%). However, they allow a near-average three-point attempt rate, and that may not fly against better shooting teams in the tournament.

Still, the Bears are 10-2 since February with the two losses both at the hands of TCU.

North Carolina State (2 Seed, Spokane - Region 1)

Odds to Win Tournament: +5000

A top-four offense and a top-25 defense is what the NC State Wolfpack have to offer. They're a great team from inside the arc and don't turn it over much (eighth in turnover rate since February 1st).

They ended the year 15-2 overall with a one-point road loss to UNC and a 14-point ACC title game loss to Duke being the two defeats.

You can also download our FREE college basketball printable bracket.

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