The University of South Carolina (USC) grabbed the coveted number one seed over South Carolina in a bracket by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee’s latest Top 16 reveal.
The Gamecocks (25-3, 15-1 SEC) saw their standings drop after their bad loss to UConn this month, while UCLA (27-1, 16-1 Big Ten) still holds the overall number one seed.
Texas (27-2, 13-1 SEC) climbed to where it is No. 2, while USC (25-2, 16-1) soared to No. 3. Notre Dame (24-3, 15-1 ACC) is quite unchanged at No. 4. The Fighting Irish learned their first painful conference loss on Sunday against NC State.
Another top performance by the committee before selection Sunday on March 16. The results reflect the standings as of Wednesday, last week which would seed all teams as if the season ended that very morning.
These were the top four teams as indicated two weeks ago in the initial announcement: UCLA, South Carolina, Texas, and Notre Dame. No new teams entered the top tier, but reshuffling did happen between the teams. The first weekend of the NCAA tournament will be hosted by the top 16 seeds.
The second Top 16 reveal is as follows:
1. UCLA (Spokane 1)
2. Texas (Birmingham 2)
3. USC (Spokane 3)
4. Notre Dame (Birmingham 4)
5. South Carolina
6. UConn
7. LSU
8. NC State
9. TCU
10. North Carolina
11. Duke
12. Tennessee
13. Oklahoma
14. Kentucky
15. Kansas State
16. Ohio State
Henceforth, the tournament will entail transitioning to the two super-regionals of Birmingham and Spokane for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Ultimately, it was the way in which South Carolina lost at home to UConn between these bracket reveals that affected their ranking. The game was very close, as one would expect a pitch to be according to these final results.
