Three bold predictions for Women's Final Four including some repeats

The 2026 Women's Final Four is nearly here, and the most elite teams in the country are all waiting for their chance to win a national championship. For the first time since the 1995-1996 NCAA Tournament, the teams that made the Final Four last season are back once again. On Friday, UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina will continue their push for more postseason glory.

Will UConn win a 13th program championship? Will UCLA make history by winning its first title? Or will Texas or South Carolina add more hardware to their trophy cases?

It's hard to know which team will emerge victorious when the national title game ends on April 5, but it's not as difficult to think about all the things that could happen during Final Four weekend . Here are three bold predictions ahead of Friday and Sunday's games: Azzi Fudd wins Most Outstanding Player, again Outside of a career-high 34 points and eight 3-pointers against Syracuse in the second round, the UConn guard has turned in a mixed bag of NCAA Tournament performances. She didn't play well at all after getting into foul trouble against UTSA during the first round, and she struggled against North Carolina in the Sweet 16.

Fudd's stat line against Notre Dame was somewhat better with 13 points, four assists and three steals on 41% shooting, but she also uncharacteristically turned the ball over five times. However, the beautiful thing about Fudd is you can never count her out and she's only one basket away from relentlessly torturing her opponents. Last year's Final Four games were a prime example of what Fudd can do.