The entire 68-field for March Madness was announced Sunday. Though every regional tournament will be tough — there are a lot of exciting and intense battles on the docket — region 2 in Sacramento, California, will truly be the one to keep an eye on.
UCLA leads the pack for good reason. Many fans have argued the Bruins should have been the overall No. 1 seed over the UConn Huskies due to the team's dynamic 2025-26 season, but having them matched up in the same regional as LSU sets the stage for an explosive contest.
Of course, both teams will have to get to the Elite Eight first — a fight that will mean knocking out teams like Duke, Ole Miss, and Minnesota along the way. Other teams in the regional include Princeton and Oklahoma State, who are both more than capable of staging a surprise upset if circumstances are favorable.
UCLA is on a 25-win streak
UCLA and LSU are likely to meet each other in the Elite Eight. It seems likely the Bruins will walk away with the win — the team is entering the tournament fresh off a 25-game win streak and just overtook Iowa by 51 points during their league tournament, so things feel good for UCLA.
But you never really can count LSU out, and the Tigers are often at their best when they feel like the odds are against them (and that everyone else feels that way, too). LSU enters March Madness with a 27-5 record and the undeniabilty of Kim Mulkey on their side.
Duke could cause some problems
Duke began their season under the weight of a mountain of headlines and questions about whether or not they could do anything special. Kara Lawson has, yet again, proven that she knows how to lead a team through every variable thrown at them (including those that are self-inflicted), and the Blue Devils took home the ACC championship this month.
If Duke threatens anyone, it'll likely be LSU. From the outside in, it certainly looks like the two teams will meet one another during the Sweet Sixteen, potentially upsetting the Tigers' focus on what could happen with UCLA. The one caveat to this is that the two teams already met once during the regular season, and LSU beat Duke 93-77 — but that was before Lawson righted the ship, and before the Blue Devils turned into the team we see now.