UConn were awarded the No 1 overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday and enters March Madness needing six more victories to complete the seventh undefeated season in school history. In the men’s tournament, Duke received the top overall seed for March Madness on Sunday, followed by Arizona, Michigan and Florida, each of whom would love a repeat of last season when all four No 1s made it to the Final Four.
The Huskies (34-0) are looking for their 13th national title and becoming the first team to repeat as champions since the Huskies won four in a row from 2013-16. They are joined by UCLA, Texas and South Carolina as the other No 1 women’s seeds.
UConn, led by stars Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, open 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, who are coached by former UConn great Shea Ralph.
UCLA (31-1) were just behind the Huskies as the second overall seed in the tournament. The Bruins have won 25 straight games in dominant fashion with the lone loss this season coming against Texas on a neutral court.
UCLA reached the Final Four last year before losing to UConn. Cori Close’s team ran through the Big Ten and have an experienced group led by center Lauren Betts looking to win the school’s first NCAA championship.
The men’s top line was the most predictable thing to come out of Selection Sunday, with Michigan’s drop of one spot to the overall No 3 the result of the Wolverines’ loss to Purdue moments before the brackets were revealed, according to tournament selection chair Keith Gill.
In the day’s biggest nail-biter, Miami (Ohio) made the field as a No 11 seed, but just barely. The RedHawks, with a 31-1 record but the 339th-ranked strength of schedule, were one of the last teams in the field and they face a First Four game Wednesday against SMU in Dayton, Ohio, not terribly far from home.
The men’s tournament starts on Tuesday with other play-in games, including one pitting bubble teams and No 11 seeds Texas and North Carolina State. The national champion will be crowned at the Final Four in Indianapolis on 6 April.
Among those left out were San Diego State, Indiana, Oklahoma and Auburn. The Tigers had 16 losses but the third-best strength of schedule. The snub drew predictable blowback from Bruce Pearl, their former coach and father of their current coach, who was working for CBS and said “they played the toughest schedule in the country and I don’t know if they were rewarded for it.”
Even with those snubs, the Southeastern Conference led the way by placing 10 teams in the field of 68, four short of its record from last year.
The Big Ten followed with nine, the ACC and Big 12 with eight apiece – an unsurprising result in an era of massive conference expansion and NIL compensation drawing top players to the biggest spenders.
The Gators (26-7) are the defending champion, trying to repeat their back-to-back titles from 2006-07. Last season, Florida were part of an all-No 1 Final Four – the first time that had happened in 17 seasons.
