Notre Dame's Path in ESPN Bracketology: A Favorable Outlook?

Notre Dame's will enter the NCAA Tournament on a bit of a cold streak but can still make plenty of noise

Mar 8, 2025; Greensboro, NC, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Olivia Miles (5) moves the ball around Duke Blue Devils forward Delaney Thomas (12) during the first quarter at First Horizon Coliseum. | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

The Notre Dame women's basketball team didn't have the close to the 2024-25 regular season that it wanted, but still has everything to play for entering the NCAA Tournament.

The Irish of course lost two of its last three regular season games before falling to Duke in the semi-finals of the ACC Tournament last week. As a result its almost certain that the Irish won't land a one-seed when the NCAA Tournament brackets are announced, but that doesn't mean a path to the Final Four doesn't still exist.

ESPN Bracketology Makes Notre Dame a 2-Seed

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo brings the ball up the court during a NCAA women's basketball game between No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 25 Louisville at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, March 2, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The latest ESPN Bracketology is out as it projects the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament field. In the most recent update that was released in the early hours of March 12, Notre Dame receives a two-seed in Region 2 Spokane.

The projection calls for Notre Dame to host the first two rounds of the tournament in South Bend, which would come against Lehigh in the First Round and then either Oklahoma State or Nebraska in the Second Round.

While traditional power LSU is the three-seed in the projected bracket, Notre Dame catches a bit of a break as UCLA is listed as the No. 1 team in the region. In my humble opinion, if you're picking a team out of South Carolina, Texas, UCLA, or USC to have as the top-seed in your region, I'd take UCLA.

There are clearly no guarantees come March, and this Notre Dame team hasn't quite looked like itself the last couple of weeks, but if its NCAA Tournament draw were to resemble this when the brackets are announced, Niele Ivey and the team would have to be thrilled.

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