But the VanDerveer streak does live on. Heidi VanDerveer, the younger sister of Tara, led UC San Diego to the Big West tournament title as a No. 4 seed. The Tritons are in the play-in game for the No. 16 seed that gets to take the court against UCLA in Westwood.

Madness picks, predictions, odds for Utah State vs UCLA first-round Midwest Region game on Thursday, March 20, 2025. Who wins?

When we talk about increased parity in women’s college basketball, what we really mean is depth at the top of the sport. There are legitimately 6-8 teams good enough to cut down the nets this year, which means that it’s hard to pencil the No. 1 seeds all into the Final Four like we used to do without thinking twice.