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NCAA Tournament Top Seed UCLA Partners with Fortnite on Selection Sunday

Bruin players team up to play popular video game ahead of earning NCAA Tournament top overall seed

Michael Ehrlich

Feb 23, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (far left) and forward Janiah Barker (0) and forward Timea Gardiner (30) and guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) and guard Kiki Rice (1) and forward Angela Dugalic (32) and teammates react after the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Feb 23, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (far left) and forward Janiah Barker (0) and forward Timea Gardiner (30) and guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) and guard Kiki Rice (1) and forward Angela Dugalic (32) and teammates react after the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The top overall seed UCLA women's basketball team heads into the NCAA Tournament amidst their best season in program history. But before the Bruins learned their bracket matchups on Selection Sunday, the team came together for a friendly competition in the world of Fortnite.

The players of the No. 1 team in the country collaborated with Epic Games for a series of online showdowns projected on the big screen of their practice facility. All participating players posted individual content of them competing and showing off their best "Victory Royale" dances, across their social media accounts.

The Bruins joined a roster of top-tier college programs - including Alabama football, UConn women's basketball and Oregon football - to have hosted similar big-screen Fortnite activations. This collaboration was brought to life by the Bruins' collective Champions of Westwood, the host of the team's Selection Sunday event.

This season, the Bruins were led by All-American and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Betts (19.6 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per game, 2.9 blocks per game), All-Big Ten First Team member Kiki Rice (12.8 points per game, 4.8 assists per game) and Big Ten Sixth Player of the YearJaniah Barker.

National Coach of the Year favorite Cori Close and the Bruins finished their historic regular season with a 30-2 record, a Big Ten tournament title and the program's first NCAA tournament top seed. After being ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press for 12 consecutive weeks - setting a Big Ten record - they now host the first two rounds of the Spokane 1 region at Pauley Pavilion and open the tournament against either Southern U or UC San Diego on March 21.

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Michael Ehrlich
MICHAEL EHRLICH

Michael Ehrlich is a seasoned sports marketing executive with experience across the global sports brand, athlete representation, media and education sides of the business. The Founder and CEO of Playbook Marketing, Ehrlich consults with brands on all things NIL and athlete partnerships, advises student-athletes on their personal brand building endeavors and is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of Southern California where he teaches a course on athlete communications and marketing. As a writer, his previous bylines include Boardroom, Business of College Sports, DIME Magazine and UPROXX, among others. You can follow him across social media at @MichaelEhrlich and reach out via michael@playbook-marketing.com

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