This is the 25th Final Four appearance for the defending champion Huskies.
The UConn women’s basketball team touched down in Phoenix on Monday, then later learned the identity of their opponent in the first national semifinal of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
The undefeated Huskies (38-0), ranked as the top overall seed, will face South Carolina (35-3). The Gamecocks defeated TCU 78-52 in the final of the Sacramento 4 Region on Monday night.
The semifinal against South Carolina will be a rematch for the Huskies. They beat the Gamecocks in Tampa, Fla., 82-59, in 2025 to win the program’s 12th national championship. Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong each scored 24 points.
Last season, the Huskies were a No. 2 seed joined by three No. 1s in the Final Four: UCLA, Texas and South Carolina. Those three other teams – all No. 1 seeds in their regions – will join the Huskies in Phoenix.
Texas and UCLA will square off in the second semifinal on Friday.
Repeating history
This is only the second time in the history of the Women’s NCAA Tournament that the same four teams will play in the Final Four in consecutive years. The first time also involved UConn.
That came in 1995, when the UConn women won their first title, defeating Tennessee 70-64. The other finalists were Stanford and Georgia.
In 1996, the lineup was identical, with Tennessee knocking out UConn in the semifinal round and then defeating Georgia 83-65 to win.
Those tournaments featured the three winningest coaches in women’s basketball history – UConn’s Geno Auriemma, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer and Tennessee’s Pat Summitt. Georgia was coached by its own legend, Andy Landers, who led the Bulldogs from 1979 until his retirement in 2015.
Landers took the Bulldogs to 31 NCAA Tournaments, making the Final Four five times without a championship. According to the NCAA, Landers’ 862 wins rank 12th all-time.
Paige Bueckers celebrates in the second half of the national championship game of the Women's NCAA Tournament. The Huskies defeated South Carolina 82-59 on April 6, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesUConn women Final Four history
UConn's unbelievable record in the Women's NCAA Tournament is worthy of a reminder in Final Four week.
Since the women's tournament launched in the 1981-82 season, UConn has, including this season:
- Made the NCAA Tournament field 37 times in Auriemma's 41 seasons. Their only absences: Auriemma's first three seasons and 2020, when the tournament was canceled because of the pandemic. That means the Huskies have appeared in 37 consecutive tournaments.
- Entered the tournament undefeated nine times. They won the championship to cap undefeated seasons six times (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2016). They lost their only game of the season in the tournament three times (1997, 2017, 2018).
- Appeared in 25 Final Fours.
- Lost twice in the first round (1989, 1993).
- Lost twice in the second round (1990, 1992).
- Lost three times in the regional semifinal (1999, 2005, 2023).
- Lost five times in the regional final (1994, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2007).
- Lost 11 times in the national semifinal (1991, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2017-19, 2021, 2024)
- Lost once in the national final (2022).
- Won 12 times in the national championship game (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2025).
UConn women and men cross paths
This isn't the first time the UConn men and the UConn women, residents of what's called the Basketball Capital of the World, have appeared in the Final Four in the same season.
It has happened 15 times in tournament history. It's no surprise that the UConn men and women have overlapped a record six times. No other team has done it more than once.
- Georgia (1983)
- Duke (1999)
- Texas (2003)
- UConn (2004)
- Michigan State (2005)
- LSU (2006)
- UConn (2009)
- UConn (2011)
- Louisville (2013)
- UConn (2014)
- Syracuse (2016)
- South Carolina (2017)
- NC State (2024)
- UConn (2024)
- UConn (2026)
The men will meet Illinois, the No. 3 seed in the South Region, in the first semifinal on Saturday in Indianapolis. A pair of No. 1 seeds, Arizona and Michigan, will play in the nightcap. The winners of the two games will face off next Monday night for the national championship.
This is the third Final Four in four seasons for the UConn men, who won the title in 2023 and 2024.
Both UConn teams won the title in 2004 and 2014. The Huskies are, of course, the only men's and women's teams to achieve the feat.
Will they achieve the milestone for a third time in the next week?
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