College basketball starts to get many views in March. Most people make brackets, expecting to be the one with a perfect bracket at the end of March. How many did you guess right?
Round 1
The official first March Madness game was played on March 21, 2025. Tennessee, Duke, Ole Miss, Baylor, KSU, UK, SC, IU, ORE, OSU, MICH, ND, LOU, and TSU advanced to round 2. Some games were closer than others, but most were dominated by teams like Notre Dame, South Carolina, and Tennessee, all scoring over 100 points.
March 22, 2025: The first round continued. UCLA, Richmond MSU, NCSU, USC, MSST, IOWA, OU, SDST, CONN, ALA, MD, WVU, UNC, LSU, TEX, and ILL advanced to round 2 of the tournament. UConn, Texas, and LSU scored over 100 points in their games.
Round 2
March 23, 2025: The second round has begun. Duke, Notre Dame, Kansas St, South Carolina, Ole Miss, TCU, Tennessee, and UCLA made it to the Sweet 16. Kansas State and Kentucky had a close game in OT. Kansas St came out on top, winning 80-79.
March 24, 2025: Texas, USC, NC State, UConn, Oklahoma, LSU, North Carolina, and Maryland all won their games with big numbers. Maryland and LSU have scored over 100 points. LSU also went into 2OT with a final score against Alabama of 111-108.
Sweet 16
March 28, 2025: The sweetest teams have made it. South Carolina, UCLA, Duke, and LSU started the round off with wins. They have advanced to the Elite 8. Duke had a low-scoring game of 47-38 against North Carolina. Duke’s defense played up until the very end, getting them the win.
March 29, 2025: Texas, USC, TCU, and UConn were the other four teams advancing. USC had a close game against KSU; Kennedy Smith and Rayah Marshall led their team to victory by scoring 16 points to make the final score 67-61.
Elite 8
March 30, 2025: The most elite teams battle to the final four. South Carolina and Duke started things off in the Elite 8. It was a very close game from the beginning until the end. When South Carolina tied things up in the fourth quarter, 42-42, and then Duke tied it up again, 46-46, later, Sania Feagin and Chloe Kitts finished it off by scoring 8 more points and playing great defense, making the final score 54-50.
UCLA made it almost look easy against LSU. With a 10-point lead in the third quarter, they continued to stay on top for the rest of the game, with a final score of 72-65. Gabriela Jaquez led the game with 18 points and 8 rebounds.
March 31, 2025: Texas and TCU battled it out for a final four spot. It was a close game up until the third quarter when Texas took a solid lead of 42-33, and by the end of the game, 58-47. Even though TCU had Hailey Van Lith, Texas’s defense dominated the entire game.
UConn and USC were also in a close game. UConn received the last spot in the final four, all because Paige Bueckers scored 31 points and had 6 assists. Sarah Strong also had 17 rebounds, helping her team to win.
Final Four
April 4, 2025: Who will go to the championship? Number 1 Texas against number 1 South Carolina. Texas won the jump ball and led the first quarter with 19 points. In the second quarter, SC got in frontby 3 points. After the third quarter, SC had led with 58 and into the fourth scoring 74 to win over Texas 57.
Underdogs came back, beating UCLA 85-51. UConn has a strong group of girls. By halftime, they had 20 points on UCLA, thanks to Sarah Strong. With 22 points and 8 rebounds, Strong was able to lead her team to victory.
National Championship
April 6, 2025: Will number 1 South Carolina take it all, or will UConn, the underdogs, make a comeback? UConn won the jump ball, but South Carolina scored first. But by the end of the first quarter, the score was 19-14 UConn. The second quarter was a breeze for UConn as they led South Carolina by 10 at the half. Going into the third quarter with 36 points, UConn had again had a safe score. Into the fourth with 62 points, UConn went on to score 20 more points to make the final score 82-59. Sarah Strong had the most points, rebounds, and assists for UConn. They have won the 12th National title.
