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Where Notre Dame women's basketball ranks in ESPN's Sweet 16 teams hierarchy

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•about 19 hours•

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Notre Dame celebrates at the end of the first quarter during the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament between Notre Dame and Michigan at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, March 23, 2025, in South Bend. (Photo by MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The NCAA Tournament field is down to 16 teams. Notre Dame is one of them.

The Fighting Irish held serve at home inside Purcell Pavilion as a No. 3 seed, defeating No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin, 106-54, and No. 3 seed Michigan, 76-55. The latter of those scores is more favorable to the losing side than it seems; the Irish were up on the Wolverines by as many as 35 points, building a 20-point first-quarter advantage and coasting to the finish line.

Now it gets serious.

ESPN’s Charlie Creme ranked the remaining 16 teams still alive in the big dance, and Notre Dame was not included in the upper half of them. The Irish are slotted at No. 9. Here’s a look at Creme’s entire reranking of the 16 teams that are headed to Birmingham, Ala., and Spokane, Wash.

1. UConn
2. UCLA
3. South Carolina
4. USC*
*The article was posted a few hours before the status os JuJu Watkins, who is out for the year with an ACL tear, was made public.

5. Texas
6. LSU
7. TCU
8. NC State

9. Notre Dame
10. Oklahoma
11. Duke
12. North Carolina

13. Tennessee
14. Ole Miss
15. Kansas State
16. Maryland

Here’s Voepel’s reasoning behind placing Notre Dame at No. 9…
The Fighting Irish had 13 days off between their ACC tournament semifinal loss and the start of the NCAA tournament, and it seems to be exactly what they needed. The offensive firepower that disappeared at the end of the regular season returned for their two games. What had to please coach Niele Ivey even more was the Irish completely shutting down a Michigan team that entered Sunday as the 20th-highest-scoring team in the country. 

Sonia Citron‘s bounce-back also bodes well moving forward. She averaged nine points per game in Notre Dame’s three games prior to the NCAA tournament but scored 40 points on 15-of-28 shooting over the weekend. The ankle injury scare for Olivia Miles also seemed alleviated. She appeared to roll an ankle late in the win over Lehigh but played 28 minutes against the Wolverines without any apparent lingering impact.

Here’s a look at every Sweet 16 matchup…

Friday, March 28
• (2) Duke vs. (3) North Carolina | 2:30 p.m. on ESPN
• (1) South Carolina vs. (4) Maryland | 5 p.m. on ESPN
• (2) NC State vs. (3) LSU |  7:30 p.m. on ESPN
• (1) UCLA vs. (5) Ole Miss | 10 p.m. on ESPN

Saturday, March 29
• (2) TCU vs. (3) Notre Dame | 1 p.m. on ABC
• (1) Texas vs. (5) Tennessee | 3:30 p.m. on ABC
• (2) UConn vs. (3) Oklahoma | 5:30 p.m. on ESPN
• (1) Southern California vs. (5) Kansas State | 8 p.m. on ESPN

Potential Elite Eight Matchups
• The winner of Duke and North Carolina takes on the winner of South Carolina and Matyland.
• The winner of NC State and LSU takes on the winner of UCLA and Ole Miss.
• The winner of Notre Dame vs. TCU takes on the winner of Texas and Tennessee.
• The winner of UConn and Oklahoma takes on the winner of Southern California and Kansas State.

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