No one is officially credited with coining the phrase "your first instinct is your best," but whoever came up with it might have been a college basketball fan. Nothing captures the essence of picking your best possible NCAA tournament bracket quite like going with that first instinct.
Trust yourself. Go with your gut. You've put the time in. You know the teams. Let it rip and don't look back. Turn in that March Madness bracket on Sunday night, not Tuesday morning. From the first men's bracket I filled out as a young fan after carefully cutting it out of the newspaper and hanging it on the pantry door to this moment right now, this process was done in one sitting.
That's what I have done here. I saw the bracket, quickly examined it and started filling in my winners -- in pen -- to come up with a true Instant Bracket.
Here are my picks for every game of the 2025 women's NCAA tournament.
Jump to: Spokane 1 Region | Birmingham 2 Region | Birmingham 3 Region | Spokane 4 Region | Final Four
First Four
SPOKANE 1 REGION
No. 16 UC San Diego Toreros 60, No. 16 Southern Jaguars 58
BIRMINGHAM 2 REGION
No. 11 Columbia Lions 76, No. 11 Washington Huskies 72
BIRMINGHAM 3 REGION
No. 16 High Point Panthers 55, No. 16 William & Mary Tribe 52
No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones 80, No. 11 Princeton Tigers 68