The University of Connecticut edged UCLA as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament when the 68-team bracket was revealed Sunday night.
Having the top spot for March Madness didn’t really matter to coach Geno Auriemma as he looks to lead the Huskies to another undefeated season and the program’s second straight national championship and record-extending 13th overall.
“We have been in that situation before, not that much different than being a No. 2 seed or a No. 1 seed somewhere else,” said Auriemma, who has been at the helm at UConn since 1985, having led the Huskies to all 12 of their NCAA crowns. “I think it is important that we recognize that there are a lot of good teams out there, and there are times I felt like we deserved a No. 1 seed based on our wins, our record, who we have beaten, and it didn’t pan out that way. This year it did.”
The Huskies (34-0) need six more victories to complete the seventh undefeated season in program history. They are trying to become the first team to repeat as the NCAA D-I women’s champion since the Huskies won four titles in a row from 2013-16.
Big East power UConn was joined by UCLA, Texas and South Carolina as No. 1 seeds.
The top 16 seeds in the field will host first- and second-round games, with the regional rounds being played at two neutral sites for the fourth straight year. Fort Worth, Texas, will host half of the Sweet 16 and Sacramento, California, will host the other eight teams. The Final Four will be played in Phoenix, with the semifinals April 3 and the championship game two days later.
For the first time, the NCAA revealed the 16 host schools a day before the full bracket was unveiled. It gave schools an extra day to sell tickets, broadcast partner ESPN a head start to move its equipment to the locations, and the NCAA more time to get its marketing materials to sites.
UConn, which is led by stars Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong, opens the tournament at home against the 16th-seeded University of Texas at San Antonio and will play in Regional 1 for Fort Worth,. If seeds hold, the Huskies could face No. 2 Vanderbilt, which is coached by former UConn great Shea Ralph. This is the 23rd time UConn has earned a No. 1 seed and first time since 2021.
“When you break it all down, in the next three weeks, if we are lucky enough to play all three weeks, you have to beat the best teams,” Auriemma said. “It doesn’t matter if you are the 1, 2, 3 or whatever (seed) you are. There are some teams in there that we have already played or just recently played. Everybody is going in front of the media and saying our bracket is the toughest, what our matchups are, and it is just pointless.”
UCLA (31-1) was just behind the Huskies as the second overall seed in the tournament. The Bruins have won 25 straight games in dominant fashion after their lone loss against Texas on a neutral court.
“The debate was pretty close the whole time between the two teams,” said NCAA selection committee chair Amanda Braun. “Went to a committee vote, watched a lot of UCLA and UConn — the vote went to UConn. The observable component, the way we watched UConn win throughout the year. UCLA did a lot of winning as well. The committee felt the observable component gave UConn the edge.”
UCLA reached the Final Four last year before losing to UConn. Cori Close’s team ran through the Big Ten this season and has an experienced group led by center Lauren Betts looking to win the program’s first NCAA championship.
The Bruins will also try to win the first women’s national championship for the Big Ten Conference since 1999. The Bruins are one of 12 Big Ten teams in the field. That matches the record they set last season for most teams in the tournament. The Southeastern Conference has 10 — including Texas and South Carolina — the Atlantic Coast Conference has nine and the Big 12 has eight.
Other top teams in UCLA’s Regional 2 for Sacramento are No. 2 seed LSU, No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Minnesota.
Texas (31-3) earned the third No. 1 seed after winning the SEC tournament title. The Longhorns beat South Carolina in two of the three meetings this season, including that league final. Texas will play in Regional 3 for Fort Worth. Other top teams in the Longhorns’ region are No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Louisville and No. 4 West Virginia.
The Gamecocks (31-3) are the No. 1 seed in Regional 4 for Sacramento and have been a No. 1 seed for six consecutive seasons. They will be joined by No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 TCU and No, 4 Oklahoma.
Meanwhile,Tennessee kept its streak alive of reaching every NCAA tournament since the first one in 1982.
The 10th-seeded Lady Volunteers, who have lost seven consecutive games, have just 16 wins this season, the fewest for an at-large team since Oklahoma also had 16 in 2018. The seed is the lowest for the storied program since Tennessee was a No. 11 seed in 2019.
The late Pat Summitt coached the Lady Vols to all eight of their national titles, second only to UConn, but their most recent championship came in 2008.
Tennessee (16-13) faces No. 7 seed North Carolina State (20-10) at 8 p.m. Friday in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The winner plays again two days later against either No. 2 seed Michigan (25-6) or No. 15 seed Holy Cross (23-9).
In the case of the Lady Vols and the Wolfpack, one team will end its season against the same opponent it faced at the start. N.C. State beat Tennessee 80-77 on Nov. 4 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Wolfpack were ranked ninth and the Lady Vols were eighth at the time of that matchup on a neutral court.
The Lady Vols, who lead the all-time series 12-5, also faced the Wolfpack in the second round of the 2024 NCAA tourney, with N.C. State winning 79-72 as part of a run to the Final Four.
The College of Charleston won the Colonial Athletic Association to make the tournament field for the first time in program history. The Cougars are a No. 14 seed and are the lone first-time entrant in the field. Last season, there were six newcomers.
BYU, North Dakota State, Utah and Texas A&M were the first four teams left out of the field.