Irish Breakdown

Basketball Legends Predict Notre Dame to Win Women’s National Championship

The Irish looked strong in their first-round win over Stephen F. Austin
Nick Shepkowski|
Notre Dame celebrates after winning the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 106-54 against Stephen F. Austin at Purcell Pavilion on Friday, March 21, 2025, in South Bend.
Notre Dame celebrates after winning the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 106-54 against Stephen F. Austin at Purcell Pavilion on Friday, March 21, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament got underway this weekend and Notre Dame rolled to a dominating victory over Stephen F. Austin to move onto the second round. There the Irish will meet Michigan with a trip to the Sweet 16 in Birmingham on the line.

Notre Dame was long considered among the favorites to cut down the nets and win the national championship this season, but due to a late season slump it fell to a No. 3 seed.

That wasn't enough to turn away one of the absolute greatest women's basketball players of all-time from picking Notre Dame to win the national championship this year, though.

Candace Parker Picks Notre Dame to Win It All

Candace Parker during Tennessee's NCAA Tournament run in 2008
March 2, 2008; Athens, GA, USA; Tennessee Volunteers center (3) Candace Parker during a break in the action against the Georgia Bulldogs in the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 72 to 63. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Parker is on the short list of greatest female basketball players of all-time, hailing from the Chicago suburbs as she starred at Naperville Central High School before helping lead Tennessee to another national championship.

Parker now works as a basketball analyst after a fantastic WNBA career and shortly before the tournament games began, released her bracket picks. To perhaps Notre Dame fans' delight, Parker has Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron, and the rest of the crew cutting down the nets and winning it all.

Check out her entire bracket below.

Parker has Notre Dame beating annual football rival USC in the national championship game after getting by powerhouse South Carolina in the Final Four. She has UCLA as her fourth Final Four team.

Notre Dame Legend Picks Fighting Irish for National Championship

In Notre Dame's long history of being a women's basketball force, few players come close to touching the resume of Arike Ogunbowale. The 2018 Final Four hero, who hit last second shots to beat UConn and Mississippi State and bring home Notre Dame's most recent championship in women's basketball.

She also released a bracket this week, but picked winners of six of the 63 tourament games. Surprising to absolutely nobody, Ogunbowale had Notre Dame winning each of those six games. Check it out.

Notre Dame takes on Michigan in the second round on Sunday. The game tips at 1:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on ABC.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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