UCLA women grab No. 1 seed and get to stay and play at Pauley Pavilion

UCLA was guaranteed to get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. They were able to snag that seed and stay in Los Angeles to play at Pauley Pavilion. As they will match up with the No. 16 seed in Cal Baptist. This is huge for the women as they will not need to travel at all until later in the tournament. With the Big Ten having a long travel schedule, each mile, they don’t have to go will help their stamina. As they look to bring home their first national championship. Sending off their top six players to the WNBA.

UCLA is absolutely rolling right now on a 25-game winning streak and absolutely blowing opponents out. Winning the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten tournament title. Their only blemish on the year continues to be the Texas game. A game in which they played injured and did not look in sync. They still had it within two buckets late, but that has proven to be a turning point in their season and they have not lost since.

The Bruins have a very winnable region. With LSU as the No. 2 seed and Duke as the No. 3 seed. UCLA is far superior to each of the teams they should be going against. They already beat Duke by 30 earlier this season. Then you can look at common opponents with LSU that was 27-5 this season. Showing that the Bruins will be on a crash course with UCONN as long as they play up to their potential. Just don’t look down on opponents and handle business as it comes.

Lauren Betts leads this UCLA team into another March Madness, looking to make the most of this one before she graduates. The entire UCLA starting five is all seniors. With all of them and play to be first round draft picks in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Cal Baptist will be the first test for this team. Before they play the winner of Oklahoma State and Princeton in the No. 8 versus No. 9 matchup. It all begins Saturday in their quest!