The UCLA Bruins have been one of the best teams in women’s college basketball since the beginning of this season. They are the one seed in Region One but far behind UConn & South Carolina in championship odds. Though they have been the best team in the country for most of the year, they are being underrated by the public.
UCLA is +700 to win the National Championship, well behind UConn, who is +135, and South Carolina, who is +185. In the national media, UCLA does not get the same mention level as UConn, South Carolina, or USC. Even teams like Notre Dame and Texas get more shine because they have more high-profile names on their rosters.
UCLA Women’s Basketball Seeks Respect as Top Seed in NCAA Tournament
The Bruins are currently 32-2, with their only losses coming to the hands of the USC Trojans during the regular season, but they avenged that loss by beating them in the Big 12 Championship game.
The village! 🫶#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/bbCBKX3nky
— UCLA Women’s Basketball (@UCLAWBB) March 28, 2025
Superstar Lauren Betts is a First-Team All-American this year, averaging 19.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
Her running mate Kiki Rice is averaging 13 points and just under five assists per game on the season. UCLA has seven players averaging more than seven points per game, and as a team, they are 5th in the nation in rebounds and fourth in the country in assists.
UCLA can be lethal on defense. Betts averaged 2.9 blocks per game, which is amongst the country’s top five players. They hold their opponents to 35.3% shooting from the field, which ranks sixth in the nation. They ranked as the number-one team in the country for 12 straight weeks and ended the season as the number-one team in the country.
At the beginning of the year, the Bruins beat the number-one ranked South Carolina Gamecocks by 15 points, handing them one of their three losses on the season.
Overall, they are 10-2 against ranked opponents this season, and their only losses came to the girl who is arguably the best player in the country, Juju Watkins, who averaged 34 in their two losses.
As good as this team has been all season, proving they should be a true favorite to win the National Championship, their lack of popular names does not give them the recognition they deserve in the national media, and the betting public doesn’t give them the respect they deserve.
KEEP READING: Women’s Sweet 16 Injury Report: Latest Updates on JuJu Watkins, Toby Fournier, and More
UCLA has their next game against the Ole Miss Rebels on Friday night with a chance to reach the Elite 8 for the first time in eight years.
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