Texas joined the University of Connecticut, UCLA and South Carolina as No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament if it began now.
The Longhorns replaced Vanderbilt as the fourth regional No. 1 seed in the second reveal by the NCAA basketball selection committee of teams in line for the top 16 seeds Sunday. Texas was a No. 2 seed in the initial reveal on Feb. 14, which was shown right after the Longhorns lost to Vanderbilt.
“We were all viewing it the same way, in the conversation it was so close and that head-to-head tipped the scales last time,” NCAA women’s basketball selection committee chair Amanda Braun told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “The loss (by Vanderbilt) tipped it back. The overall resumé of Texas is stronger than Vanderbilt in a few different ways.”
Undefeated UConn, the reigning national champion, was still the overall No. 1 seed, edging UCLA and South Carolina.
“We had some conversations, obviously it’s not all cut and dry, but we feel good where we landed,” Braun said. “We do look at it as what has happened since last reveal and none of those three lost and had pretty convincing wins against really good teams.”