Texas moves to No. 1 seed in latest NCAA women’s bracket preview, joins UConn, UCLA, South Carolina

Texas joined UConn, UCLA and South Carolina as No. 1 seeds in the women’s NCAA Tournament if it began now.

The Longhorns replaced Vanderbilt as the fourth top seed in the second reveal by the NCAA basketball selection committee of teams in line for the top 16 seeds Sunday. Texas was a No. 2 seed in the initial reveal on Feb. 14, which was shown right after the Longhorns lost to Vanderbilt.

“We were all viewing it the same way, in the conversation it was so close and that head-to-head tipped the scales last time,” NCAA women’s basketball selection committee chair Amanda Braun told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “The loss (by Vanderbilt) tipped it back. The overall resume of Texas is stronger than Vanderbilt in a few different ways.”

Undefeated UConn was still the overall No. 1 seed, edging UCLA and South Carolina.

“We had some conversations, obviously it’s not all cut and dry, but we feel good where we landed,” Braun said. “We do look at it as what has happened since last reveal and none of those three lost and had pretty convincing wins against really good teams.”

The committee uses 12 criteria to determine who belongs in the field and where teams should be seeded.

“Things can still happen in the next two weeks,” the chairwoman said.

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.

UConn and South Carolina were projected as the top seeds in the Fort Worth Regional, with UCLA and Texas in Sacramento. The Huskies, as the top overall seed, would potentially have the Friday-Sunday games on the second weekend, allowing them an extra day of rest before the Final Four.

Joining UConn in its bracket was No. 2 seed LSU, third-seed Louisville and fourth-seed Maryland.

The Bruins would have No. 2 seed Vanderbilt, No. 3 seed Duke and fourth-seeded Ohio State in their region.

The Big Ten had seven of the top 16 seeds and the SEC had five.

“When you watch them those are really good teams. Every element we look at, the Big Ten has a lot of really good teams,” Braun said. “We don’t really know how many are going in as we are doing it one-by-one and then they are seven of the best 16.”

Joining the Gamecocks in Fort Worth would be No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 TCU and No. 4 Minnesota. The Longhorns would have No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Oklahoma and fourth-seed Michigan State in California.

TCU is hoping to be in one of the Fort Worth brackets so that Horned Frogs wouldn’t have to leave home. The arena where the regional is being played is roughly 10 minutes from campus.

Teams just outside the top 16 included Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and West Virginia. Ole Miss was in the initial top 16 reveal.

The Final Four will be played in Phoenix on April 3 and the NCAA championship game is two days later.

The NCAA has been doing in-season reveals since 2015 to give teams an early idea of where they could be come selection night. Sunday’s reveal did not factor in the games scheduled for later that day, which included South Carolina-Kentucky, Duke-North Carolina and Vanderbilt-Tennessee.

Next up will be the reveal of the top 16 teams in alphabetical order a day before Selection Sunday on March 15. It’s the first time the NCAA will do that so as to gives schools an extra day to sell tickets as well as to give ESPN more time to get its equipment in place to broadcast the tournament.

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