Let's look at the top five reason's that the UCLA women's basketball team can and will win a national championship in 2025.
No. 5: To be the best, you have to defeat the best.
South Carolina won a national championship in 2024, going 38-0, and this season they have won 16 out of the 17 games they have played. For the 2022-23 season, they went undefeated in the regular season, winning 36 games before losing in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament to Iowa. The one team they have lost to in the regular season over these past couple of years is UCLA.
Early this season, the Bruins welcomed South Carolina to Pauley Pavilion in front of nearly 14 thousand fans in a highly anticipated top-five matchup. To many observers' surprise, UCLA led South Carolina at the half by a score of 43-22. The game became more competitive in the second half, but the Bruins still won by 15 points to defeat, at the time, the No. 1 ranked Gamecocks.
Five different players scored 11 or more points, and this victory showed that this team could defeat anyone on their schedule and, more importantly, any team in the country. This victory showed that this team is more than capable of winning a national championship this season.
No. 4: UCLA dominated the competition in non-conference play.
Not only did UCLA go 11-0 in non-conference play, but they defeated some good, solid teams and won by large margins. Besides their impressive win over South Carolina, they beat Louisville, who has now won six straight games and is currently in second place in the ACC. They also defeated Arkansas from the SEC, Creighton, whose last loss besides UCLA was on November 14th, and they won road games at Long Beach State, who is in first place in their conference, and Hawai'i in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
What is even more impressive in non-conference play is the margin of victory. They defeated Arkansans by 49, Fresno State by 56, Long Beach State by 51, and Pepperdine by 37. Only five non-conference games were played on their home court, and they went as far as Paris, France, and Hawaii to play some non-conference games.
No. 3: They have dominated their competition in Big Ten play.
UCLA is currently 6-0 in conference play and their closest point margin of victory has been 11 points when the Bruins went on the road to play Washington and Indiana. On their home court in B1G play, they have beaten Michigan by 16, Nebraska by 37, Purdue by 34, and Penn State by 16,
Some basketball analysts spoke about the travel of former Pac-12 teams and how it would affect them during the season, having to travel far distances from the West Coast to the Midwest and East Coast. However, UCLA have traveled to the state of Indiana and defeated both the Boilermakers and Hoosiers with no signs of jet lag.
UCLA is in a three way for the Big Ten title with USC and Ohio State who all three teams are undefeated in league play currently at 6-0. The Bruins play the Buckeyes on their home court on February 5th and they face off against their rivals the Trojans twice toward the end of conference play. The competition in the Big Ten will help UCLA achieve their ultimate goal of competing for a national title.