How UConn can land in Bridgeport Regional for NCAA Tournament
The march to a 14th consecutive Final Four appearance began Saturday when the UConn women’s basketball team played its first Big East Tournament game.
UConn (22-5) began the season as one of the top teams in the country, a national title contender that was seemingly a lock to move from the Bridgeport Region to the Final Four.
Yet after a season of injuries, UConn’s postseason path is unknown — even with Paige Bueckers back.
Geno Auriemma’s team was the No. 9 seed overall and slotted into the Greensboro Region, a third seed in the final NCAA top-16 reveal announced Monday. The NCAA’s last reveal in the “if the tournament started today” game has UConn sitting in a regional with No. 1 South Carolina.
Would the selection committee really set up a potential marquee UConn-South Carolina matchup for the Elite Eight? And would the committee stage a regional in Bridgeport without the draw of UConn?
UConn has been in either Bridgeport or Albany in every regional since 2014. The Huskies were placed in Spokane in the first reveal and in Bridgeport in the second, so it’s difficult to predict what the committee will do when the field is unveiled March 13.
At issue is the desire to keep teams away from conference opponents and spread them among the regions. The Big 12 and Big Ten have four teams each in the last reveal and the SEC has three, so spreading teams across the regions and away from conference foes creates a difficult puzzle.
UConn will need to climb to a No. 2 seed to land in Bridgeport. That means leapfrogging Michigan, LSU, Iowa State or Baylor,
all slotted as second seeds.
The Huskies will need to roll through the Big East Tournament — which seems likely, given how they looked as the regular season concluded — and hope things shake out just right in other conference tournaments.
Here the rundown on the four teams ahead of UConn in the NCAA top-17 reveal:
Michigan: Kim Barnes Arico, who left St. John’s for Michigan 10 years ago, has turned the Wolverines into a title contender. Michigan was ranked as high as fourth in the AP poll this season and entered the Big Ten Tournament as a No. 3 seed, before losing to Nebraska, 76-73, in the quarterfinals on Friday. Michigan ended the regular season with three losses in five games, including a 104-80 season-finale loss to Iowa.
LSU: Kim Mulkey has transformed LSU in her first season after arriving from Baylor. Mulkey inherited a 9-13 team and has turned it into a title contender. LSU (25-4) was ranked sixth in the final AP poll of the regular season. The Tigers finished the season with eight wins in a row and entered the SEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed behind South Carolina. However, LSU suffered a 78-63 loss to Kentucky in
the quarterfinals on Friday.
Iowa State: The Cyclones (24-5) had an opportunity to clinch a share of the Big 12 regular season title on Monday, but they lost to Baylor by 25 points. The regular season ends Saturday against West Virginia and the Big 12 Tournament begins March 11. Iowa State also lost to Baylor by 26 points in January. The Cyclones are 5-4 against ranked teams, not including a loss to LSU before the Tigers were ranked. This is a team that could fall to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Baylor: The Bears have been among the best in the country in the first season after Mulkey left for LSU. Credit former Atlanta Dream coach Nicki Collen, who has thrived in her first college head coaching job. Collen, a former Connecticut Sun assistant, has Baylor (24-5) positioned to win the Big 12 regular season title outright with a victory over Texas Tech Saturday. Led by forward NaLyssa Smith, who had 28 points and 20 rebounds against Iowa State Monday, Baylor could make a case to be a No 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Four of Baylor’s five losses have come to ranked teams — Oklahoma twice, Michigan and Maryland.