Updated: March 17, 2009, 12:39 AM ET
Breaking down the bracket
Now that we know the field of 64, what do ESPN.com's contributors think about the bracket? Charlie Creme, Graham Hays, Melanie Jackson and Mechelle Voepel offer some quick analysis:
BRACKET BREAKDOWN
![]() CREME |
![]() HAYS |
![]() JACKSON |
![]() VOEPEL |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardest regional | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma City |
| Easiest regional | Trenton | Raleigh | Trenton | Trenton |
| Best first-round game | 7 DePaul vs. 10 SDSU |
5 Xavier vs. 12 Gonzaga |
8 Villanova vs. 9 Utah |
5 Virginia vs. 12 Marist |
| Best potential second-round matchup | 5 Virginia vs. 4 California |
7 Rutgers vs. 2 Auburn |
7 Rutgers vs. 2 Auburn |
7 Rutgers vs. 2 Auburn |
| Team better than its seed | 10 San Diego St. | 7 South Dakota St. | 3 Louisville | 7 South Dakota St. |
| Team worse than its seed | 6 Texas | 3 Ohio State | 5 Kansas State | 4 California |
| Biggest snub | South Florida | South Florida | South Florida | Bowling Green |
| Biggest surprise | VCU's at-large bid | Louisville's 3-seed, not being placed in Bowling Green | Tennessee's path of least resistance | Georgia's at-large bid |
| Possible Cinderella | 6 Purdue | 13 Montana | 12 Gonzaga | 12 Gonzaga |
| Final Four | UConn Stanford Maryland Oklahoma |
UConn Stanford Maryland Oklahoma |
UConn Stanford Maryland Auburn |
UConn Stanford Baylor Oklahoma |
| Who wins | UConn over Maryland |
UConn over Maryland |
UConn over Maryland |
UConn over Oklahoma |
WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT

2009 Women's NCAA Tournament Index
STORIES
- Sweet 16: Experts' picks | X factors
- Mechelle Voepel: Sweet 16 preview
- Mechelle Voepel: MSU gets last word
- Graham Hays: Terps' true leaders
- Tournament Dish: Feeling Sweet
- Graham Hays: Rutgers comes together
- Dish: Big night for 6-seeds, Pac-10
- Mechelle Voepel: Vols' upset is biggest ever
- Dish: Cardinals crush Orange Crush
- Graham Hays: Whipple paces Utes
- Graham Hays: Auburn faces road test
- Tournament Dish: Saturday wrap
- Graham Hays: Boddie, Auburn outrun Lehigh
- Blog: Sunday's early games wrap-up
- Mechelle Voepel: What games we're in for!
- Graham Hays: Mountain Hawks find meaning
- Mechelle Voepel: Team effort lifts Medlock
- Charlie Creme: Best-, worst-case scenarios
- Graham Hays: UConn perfectly complete
- Mechelle Voepel: What's ahead for UConn?
- UConn's Dogged Pursuit of Perfection
- Breakdowns: Berkeley | Oklahoma City
- Breakdowns: Trenton | Raleigh
SELECTION MONDAY
- Experts' bracket breakdown
- Experts' Final Four picks
- Mechelle Voepel: Nothing's easy
- Graham Hays: 5 Burning Questions
- Charlie Creme Biggest bracket questions
- Mechelle Voepel: If not UConn, who?
VIDEOS
- Ball State upsets 5-seed Tennessee
- Charles, UConn crush Vermont
- Utah defense stymies Villanova
- OU's Sherri Coale: Why I coach
- Auburn's Nell Fortner: Why I coach
- OU's Paris twins go one-on-one
- Duke deserved No. 1 seed
- Stanford is most dangerous 2-seed
- Jackrabbits could make jump to Sweet 16
- Geno Auriemma: One game at a time
- Final Four Predictions
TOURNEY TOOLS
- Women's Tournament Challenge
- BRACKETS: HTML | GIF | PDF





