Candace Parker only fills out one March Madness bracket, and she's not picking her alma mater to win it all

• Candace Parker adheres to a strict "one bracket" policy during March Madness.
• This year, she isn't picking her alma mater — the Tennessee Volunteers — to win the Big Dance.

Candace Parker only fills out one bracket ahead of the NCAA tournament.

And, based on what she told Insider, the WNBA superstar is pretty stringent about that policy.

"I'm all for filling out one bracket," Parker said. "That is my biggest thing in my group. You know, when I have friends that are in different [pools] and their brackets are different, I'm like, 'No, no, no — there's one bracket that you fill out.'"

"You gotta have your winner," she added.

This year, Parker's winner isn't who many might expect. The two-time NCAA champion and two-time AP Women's College Basketball Player of the Year isn't penciling in her alma mater to win the Big Dance.

Though Parker was impressed with her Tennessee Volunteers' "ability to battle adversity" throughout the season and finish with a four seed in the NCAA tournament, she noted that "they still have injuries" and may not be quite ready to contend for a national championship just yet.

"Honestly, I think Tennessee surprised a lot of individuals this year — it surprised me this year with their rise," the two-time WNBA MVP said. "For me, a successful year for them, to be honest, would be an Elite Eight.... I think that that is a successful year based off of what they have overcome this year, the lessons they've learned, [and] the people that they have out."

And even though it "hurts her heart" to pick anyone but the Vols to win it all, Parker is picking a different Southeastern Conference squad to cut down the nets: the South Carolina Gamecocks. Led by National Player of the Year favorite Aliyah Boston, Dawn Staley's top-ranked squad has only suffered two losses on the season.

"I'd like to see them be successful because they've had heartbreaks the last, I would say, even three years," Parker said. "They've had heartbreaks in COVID and then Aliyah Boston missed the [last-second layup during the 2021 Final Four], and they didn't win. Just seeing her face and how upset she was — and I'm a big believer in bouncing back. I've lost a lot of games by a last-second shot in my career, and it sucks."

"So I would like to see them rise up and win," she added.

That said, Parker knows better than to rule out her fiercest college rivals, the ever-dominant UConn Huskies, who have appeared in every Final Four since 2008.

Though the Huskies struggled throughout the regular season as a result of an injury bug that took out much of their team — including reigning National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers — Geno Auriemma's squad has gotten healthy for when it matters most.

"I mean, everybody's talking about the Stanfords, the South Carolinas, the NC States, Louisville, and all that, but Connecticut's got their dogs back," Parker said. "Whatever one seed they're in the bracket with, it's not fair."

Ultimately, Parker picked the sixth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats to topple UConn in the Sweet Sixteen of her official bracket, which she filled out and shared as part of her joint effort with Degree to bring more attention to the women's NCAA tournament.

Through the "Bracket Gap Challenge," Parker and Degree are encouraging more fans to fill out brackets for the women's tourney by offering a top prize of $100,000.

"Something as little and simple as filling out a women's bracket will bring about more attention, more visibility, and more opportunities for these deserving women," she said.