With Selection Sunday 31 days away and Iowa star Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking moment on the horizon, the NCAA women’s basketball selection committee presented it’s first in-season top-16 reveal on Thursday.
The undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks were inevitably awarded the No. 1 seed. Meanwhile, some placements, such as UCLA’s No. 7 seed, come as a surprise. The reigning champions, LSU, are currently the No. 14 seed. In the same rankings last year, they were placed at No. 5. They opened the current campaign with a 92-78 loss to Colorado, which the committee has at No. 4 overall.
“I think one of the things that we looked at was the quality of wins and losses,” selection committee chairperson Lisa Peterson said of the selection process. “But also how many people challenged themselves [with their non-conference schedules].”
The initial selection often works as a loose indication of how the NCAA tournament bracket might actually pan out. Across the teams that have been included in the committee’s initial reveal in the past ten years, only Rutgers (2017-18) has missed out on the tournament entirely. Last year, Kanas State was the only other team to land in the bottom half of the bracket.
This month will also feature the next reveal, which will come ahead of the Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech game on Feb. 29 (ESPN2, 6:30 p.m.). The full 68-team bracket will be unveiled at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 17 on ESPN.
Here’s the first top 16:
1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. Ohio State
4. Colorado
5. Iowa
6. NC State
7. UCLA
8. Texas
9. Southern California
10. Virginia Tech
11. Oregon State
12. UConn
13. Kansas State
14. LSU
15. Indiana
16. Louisville
The committee also gave each team a regional assignment, placing them either in Albany, New York or Portland, Oregon. In the final bracket, those regions will determine first-round matchups and where they will take place.
Albany 1
1. South Carolina
2. UCLA
3. UConn
4. Louisville
Albany 2
1. Ohio State
2. NC State
3. Souther California
4. LSU
Portland 1
1. Stanford
2. Texas
3. Oregon State
4. Indiana
Portland 2
1. Colorado
2. Iowa
3. Virginia Tech
4. Kansas State
Source Agencies
