Huskies will likely land in Bridgeport regional
As March began, the UConn women’s basketball team seemed destined for a journey.
The third and final NCAA “top-16 reveal” placed the Huskies as the No. 9 overall seed and dropped them in the Greensboro region in the NCAA Tournament.
UConn was slotted in Spokane in the first reveal and in Bridgeport in the second, but the selection committee — striving to keep teams away from conference foes as it builds each region — seemed confounded. How could UConn land in the regional close to home as a No. 3 seed without multiple teams from Power Five conference clustered in the same bracket?
The path from Storrs to Bridgeport seemed simple: win the Big East Tournament in resounding fashion and hope for an upset or two among the teams ahead of the Huskies in the last top-16 snapshot. Check.
Check.
UConn powered through the Big East Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena, winning three games by an average of more than 30 points. Geno Auriemma’s team left nothing to chance at the casino.
Meanwhile, there were indeed upsets; Michigan and LSU — the teams directly ahead of UConn — lost in their first conference tournament games last week. Two No. 1 seeds also lost: South Carolina (No. 1 overall) and Louisville (No. 4 overall).
All of this makes Sunday’s Selection Show (8 P.M., ESPN) intriguing. South Carolina, the top team in the country all year, will no doubt retain the No. 1 seed and seems likely to land in Greensboro, a mere three-hour drive from campus. Stanford, the second overall seed coming off the Pac-12 Tournament title, will assuredly be the top seed in Spokane.
The rest? Good luck trying to forecast the alignment.
The Big 12 Tournament is this weekend, with top-16 second seeds Baylor and Iowa State playing. Baylor, fifth overall in the last reveal, could replace Louisville as fourth overall and lowest of the No. 1 seeds. That’s assuming Baylor runs the table in the conference tournament.
Iowa State was sixth overall and will probably not be penalized for losing to Baylor in the tournament. But a loss earlier may ding them.
UConn? Tear up those tickets to Spokane or Greensboro. All signs point to the Huskies boarding a bus for Bridgeport.
Here’s what to look for Sunday:
HUSKIES AT HOME?
UConn will host the first two rounds of the tournament at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. The path to the Final Four in Minneapolis figures to run through the freshly minted Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, at least according to those who sweat over the bracket.
ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme had UConn in the Greensboro region until Tuesday, when he moved the Huskies to Bridgeport as the No. 2 seed.
Under that scenario, NC State is the No. 1 seed in the region. UConn is followed by Iowa, Oklahoma and Oregon. Creme’s latest bracket has Kentucky, South Florida and American (projected as Patriot League winner).
How did UConn land so squarely in Bridgeport after that narrative seemed so unlikely? The Michigan and LSU losses allowed UConn to jump ahead, placing them firmly as a second seed.
That also allows the committee to shuffle lower seeds as it attempts to spread conference teams among the brackets. Teams from conferences with multiple programs in the top 16 can be moved easier if they are not locked into one of the top two seeds.
The Big 12 and Big Ten had four teams each in the last top-16 reveal, while the SEC had three teams.
Speaking on a media conference call Friday, Creme said he’s convinced UConn will land in Bridgeport. With Paige Bueckers back and the roster healthy, UConn is — on paper — a team that deserves a No. 2 seed and a spot in Bridgeport..
“It would be surprising to me if it didn’t,” Creme said. “It hasn’t happened in any of the reveals but that’s understandable given the way the rest of country laid out and the fact that UConn was a 3-seed up until they got their whole roster back and they had that pretty significant and impressive run through the Big East. Bottom line is, you can pretty much lock them into Bridgeport and pretty much lock them into a 2.”
For the NCAA and the City of Bridgeport and UConn … this is ideal. UConn fans purchased tickets anticipating the team would be at the building formerly known as Webster Bank Arena, so there’s an economic incentive to keep the State U in the state.
It’s not ideal for NC State or whatever team is the No. 1 seed. Assuming Louisville or Baylor land in Wichita as the No. 1 seed, NC State will play its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games before a decidedly pro-UConn crowd.
Good luck with that.
THE NO. 1’S
Three of the four top seeds in the last reveal seem locked in: South Carolina, Stanford and NC State. The Gamecocks (29-2) were upset by Kentucky in the SEC Tournament, yet remained No. 1 in the latest Associated Press poll.
Stanford (28-3) did receive 11 of the 28 first-place votes. The defending national champion is viewed as a hair behind South Carolina, but the teams have been 1-2 at the top of the AP poll for the past 12 weeks.
Their regions also seem set. Greensboro is a geographic reward for South Carolina’s season as the No. 1 team in the country from start to finish. A spot in Spokane will keep Stanford in the Pacific Time Zone en route to the Final Four.
NC State (29-3) began the season ranked fifth in the country and finished third, stringing together a consistent season — all three losses were against ranked teams (South Carolina, Georgia, Notre Dame).
In the ACC Tournament, NC State beat Miami in the title game after the Hurricanes advanced with upset wins over Louisville and Notre Dame.
Speaking of Louisville … the Cardinals’ inability to advance past the quarterfinals of their conference tournament could cost them a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Baylor, under first-year coach Nicki Collen, rose from fifth to fourth in the latest AP poll and a run through its conference tournament could result in a No. 1 seed.
ABOUT THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT ...
There are conference tournaments unfolding this weekend, including the Big 12 in Kansas City.
Baylor (27-5) opened with a win over Oklahoma State Friday afternoon and beat Oklahoma in Saturday’s semifinals.
Iowa State was a second seed in the last reveal and a loss before reaching the conference title game will open the door even wider for UConn to grab a No. 2 seed. But Iowa State lost to Texas in Saturday’s semifinals.
Creme, though, said UConn’s place as a No 2 seed in Bridgeport is secure regardless of what transpires in Kansas City.
“Unless Texas won the whole thing, but even then I would actually still have UConn ahead of Texas and just move Texas up to the 2-line,” Creme said. “I guess if Iowa State won the whole thing, we could have a conversation about that. I still think I would put UConn ahead of Iowa State given what UConn is now versus what they were even, what, three weeks ago?
“Theoretically, if Baylor were to lose here in the quarterfinals of the Big 12, which would be a monumental story, UConn could get to No. 5 overall, I think, but I don’t think they could then move up to the 1-line but No. 5 or No. 6 overall still puts them in Bridgeport.”