Unbeaten UConn joined by UCLA,
Texas and South Carolina as No. 1 seeds for women's NCAA Tournament
[March 16, 2026]
By DOUG FEINBERG
UConn edged UCLA as the No. 1 overall seed in women’s NCAA
Tournament when the bracket was announced Sunday night,
Having the top spot in March Madness didn't really matter to Huskies
coach Geno Auriemma as he looks to lead the team to another
undefeated season with the school's 13th national championship.
“We have been in that situation before, not that much different than
being a No. 2 seed or a No. 1 seed somewhere else,” Auriemma said.
“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 school history. They are trying to become the
first team to repeat as champion since the program won four in a row
from 2013-16.
UConn was joined by UCLA, Texas and South Carolina as No. 1 seeds.
UConn, which is led by stars Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, opens the
tournament at home against 16th-seeded UTSA and will play in the
Fort Worth Regional. 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 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 say 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 its 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 and has an experienced group
led by center Lauren Betts looking to win the school’s first NCAA
championship.
The Bruins will 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 SEC has 10, the ACC nine and
Big 12 eight.
Other tops teams in UCLA’s region are No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Duke and No.
4 Minnesota.
The Longhorns (31-3) earned the third No. 1 seed after winning the
SEC Tournament title. They beat South Carolina in two of the three
meetings this season. Texas will play in Fort Worth Regional 3.
Other top teams in Texas’ region are No. 2 Michigan, No. 3
Louisville and No. 4 West Virginia.
[to top of second column] |
UCLA head coach Cori Close gesture in the second half of an NCAA
college basketball game against Iowa in the finals of the Big Ten
Conference tournament, Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Indianapolis. (AP
Photo/Michael Conroy)
The Gamecocks (31-3) are the No. 1 seed in the
Sacramento Regional 4 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.
In and out
The College of Charleston won the Colonial Athletic Association to
make the tournament field for the first time in school history. The
Cougars are a 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.
Tennessee streak lives on
Tennessee kept its streak alive of reaching every NCAA Tournament
since the first one in 1982. The 10th-seeded Lady Vols, who have
lost seven consecutive games, only had 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 an
11-seed in 2019.
Financial compensation
For the second consecutive year, teams in the women’s tournament
will be financially compensated, in a similar fashion to the men’s
field, for each round they play. “Units” are what the NCAA calls its
tally of wins, automatic qualifiers and at-large bids that determine
how much conferences are paid. A unit is money paid to conferences
when one of its teams appears in the NCAA Tournament.
This year, the NCAA is giving teams that reach the championship game
and the one that wins the title extra units. That extra compensation
was added to the overall pool and doesn’t decrease the overall value
of the units.
Tournament sites
The top 16 seeds in the 68-team 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 on April 3 and the
championship game is two days later.
For the first time the NCAA revealed the 16 host schools a day
early. 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.
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