Women’s NCAA Tournament: Top seeds nearly set, others fight for bids

• The women’s NCAA Tournament field is filling up fast as automatic qualifiers win their conference tournaments to get in. The top seeds in the Big Dance are also nearly set.
• The top four teams seem to be UCLA, USC, South Carolina and Texas.
• There are also bubble teams hoping to impress the selection committee one last time.

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Of the 68 teams making the field for the women’s NCAA basketball tournament, 31 will qualify through automatic bids after winning their conference tournaments. So far, 15 of those auto bids have been earned, as 16 more compete across the country over the next few days.

Who are the likely top seeds?

There’s no mystery as to who the No. 1 seeds are. UCLA is back on top after they picked up a little payback over USC in the Big 10 tournament final on Sunday, March 9. The Bruins’ only two losses in the regular season were to the Trojans, so beating them in the tournament gave the team some added juice heading into the Big Dance.

“I think it just reminds us of what we’re really good at, and I think sometimes when things aren’t going your way, you can either lack confidence or doubt yourself,” Bruins guard Londynn Jones said. “I think that’s just a really good way, and a reminder to remind us what we’re capable of, and what we’ve been doing, what we should continue to do.”

Why does South Carolina deserve a top seed?

On the same level as the Bruins are the South Carolina Gamecocks. The team won two of the last three national titles and also used the revenge factor on Sunday to get back to the top. They lost to Texas in the regular season, which didn’t sit well with head coach Dawn Staley’s group. They took it out on the Longhorns in the SEC final, winning by 19 points.

“When you win this tournament and play the schedule that we play, I do think we’re the No. 1 overall seed,” Staley said. “We manufactured our schedule to put ourselves in this situation. So, I hope the committee doesn’t discount our entire résumé. There isn’t anybody in the country that has played the schedule that we have played, that had share of the regular-season title, won this tournament and beat the No. 1 team in the country. There is no one.”

Does Texas have a case for a No. 1 seed?

Texas might dispute that. The Longhorns feel things would be different had they not scored just six points in the second quarter. Texas should also earn a No. 1 seed, and don’t be surprised if the committee sets up a rematch with South Carolina somewhere in the bracket.

“One quarter, one game, certainly doesn’t define our season or who we are or what we’ve put together,” said Texas head coach Vic Schaefer. “I don’t think anyone is going to evaluate us on one quarter. You know, this team is 31-3, they have earned their way, they have been through the gauntlet.”

What about the best of the rest?

The final top seed will likely be USC despite their second-place finish in the Big 10. UConn and Notre Dame can also make a case for the final No. 1 seed. At the very least, they will be on the two-line come Sunday, March 16.

Now, all that remains to be decided are the other 16 auto bids and whether or not bubble teams like Iowa State, Washington, Princeton and Harvard will make the dance.

They’ll all be glued to the Women’s Selection show, which follows the men’s show on Sunday, March 16. The women’s bracket will be revealed on ESPN at 8 p.m. EST.