Women’s NCAA field to be revealed with UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina potential No. 1s
UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina are projected No. 1 seeds in the women’s NCAA Tournament when the bracket is announced Sunday night.
The Huskies head into March Madness undefeated and need six more wins to complete the seventh undefeated season in school history. If they win, UConn will be the first repeat champion since the team won four in a row from 2013-16.
UCLA has won 25 straight games in dominant fashion with the lone loss this season coming against Texas on a neutral court. The Bruins reached the Final Four last year before losing to UConn. Cori Close’s team ran through conference play and has an experienced group led by center Lauren Betts looking to win the school’s first NCAA championship and the first for the Big Ten since 1999.
The Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 are expected to have many of the teams in the tournament.
The Longhorns (31-3) are coming into the tournament on a roll after beating South Carolina to win the SEC Tournament title. They beat the Gamecocks in two of the three meetings this season.
The Gamecocks have been a No. 1 seed for the past five seasons and are looking to win their fourth national championship.
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. By doing that it gave schools an extra day to sell tickets, broadcast partner ESPN to start to move its equipment to the locations and the NCAA to get its marketing materials to sites.
Tournament streak
Tennessee is trying to keep its streak alive of reaching ever NCAA Tournament since the first one in 1982. The Lady Vols, who have lost seven consecutive games, only had 16 wins this season and it would be the fewest for an at-large team since Oklahoma also had 16 in 2018.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball