The choice committee for the ladies’s NCAA Match revealed its prime 16 seed projections for the second and last time this season on Thursday evening, simply earlier than tip-off of a rivalry conflict between North Carolina and Duke.
Each the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels remained within the committee’s prime 16 and so did close by Tobacco Street rival N.C. State. Ought to the rankings maintain, it might mark the primary time since 1998 that each one three faculties in North Carolina’s Analysis Triangle hosted NCAA Match video games in the course of the opening weekend. That — coupled with first-and-second spherical males’s video games being held at Raleigh’s Lenovo Middle — would make the area the middle of school basketball in mid-March.
Elsewhere within the prime 16 reveal, there was shakeup on the prime. The USC Trojans, buoyed by an upset win over rival UCLA, moved to the 1-line. In the meantime, South Carolina, hindered by a lopsided house loss to UConn, fell to the 2-line. Ought to these projections come to fruition, it might mark the primary time because the 2018-19 event that Daybreak Staley’s Gamecocks weren’t a No. 1 seed.
Right here’s the complete prime 16 reveal:
- UCLA
- Texas
- USC
- Notre Dame
- South Carolina
- UConn
- LSU
- NC State
- TCU
- UNC
- Duke
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma
- Kentucky
- Kansas State
- Ohio State
Winner: USC
The Trojans had been a No. 1 seed final yr as nicely and discover themselves again on the highest line with only one common season recreation to play, on Saturday at rival UCLA. The stakes for that recreation are actually even increased, as a result of a USC win may knock the Bruins off the mark for the No. 1 general seed. In fact, USC and UCLA may meet for a 3rd time within the Massive Ten Match.
If USC stays on the 1-line, it’ll mark the primary time because the 1983 and 1984 seasons that it has been a No. 1 seed in back-to-back years. These Trojans — led by Cheryl Miller — gained two consecutive NCAA championships.
Loser: South Carolina
Whereas the Gamecocks and their SEC counterparts within the Texas Longhorns are the one two groups within the nation with 11 wins in Quad 1 video games, the choice committee was apparently dissatisfied by Staley’s group getting boat-raced at house by UConn, 87-58, on Feb. 16.
The excellent news for South Carolina is that they’ve loads of alternatives to make up this floor. They’ll play Kentucky — 14th within the newest reveal — on Sunday and will face a handful of prime 16 groups within the SEC Match in Greenville, S.C., which begins subsequent week.
Winner: Tennessee, and the SEC
After not internet hosting opening weekend video games final season in Kellie Harper’s last yr on the helm, the Woman Vols are in an excellent place to carry NCAA Match video games again to Knoxville this yr. From the primary prime 16 disclose to Thursday’s projection, Tennessee was the most important riser, leaping up 4 spots from sixteenth to twelfth. Kim Caldwell’s group has gained three video games since that first reveal, together with a victory over AP-ranked Alabama.
Total, the SEC appears to be like like probably the most top-heavy convention with six groups within the prime 16. The ACC has 4, the Massive Ten has three, the Massive 12 has two, and the Massive East has one within the UConn Huskies.
Ohio State and Kansas State appear to be probably the most in-danger of falling out. The Wildcats have misplaced twice because the final prime 16 reveal and fell three spots, whereas Ohio State is sixteenth after dropping to unranked Indiana. Any extra slip-ups from the Buckeyes and Kansas State may price them homecourt benefit within the opening spherical.
