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Mechelle VoepelESPN.com
Stanford, UConn, North Carolina State and South Carolina were awarded No. 1 seeds for the women’s NCAA tournament, with the Cardinal earning the top overall seed.
The women’s bracket reveal on Monday night came on the heels of UConn’s announcement that head coach Geno Auriemma’s Texas arrival would be delayed after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. He will remain in isolation for 10 days and can rejoin the team on March 24. The other members of UConn’s travel party have tested negative for COVID-19.
He’ll miss the Huskies’ opening game against High Point — one of four first-timers in the NCAAs — and a potential second-round matchup against either Syracuse or South Dakota State.
Stanford, which will open against Utah Valley, had quite the odyssey this season because of the coronavirus. It had to play on the road for nine weeks after Santa Clara County health officials announced they were prohibiting all contact sports in late November.
The Cardinal, who are looking for their third national championship, are the top seed in the Alamo region. The four regions are named after San Antonio landmarks, with UConn in the River Walk Regional, NC State in the Mercado Regional and South Carolina in the Hemisfair Regional.
It is the first No. 1 seed for the Wolfpack, who made the 1998 Women’s Final Four as a No. 4 seed. NC State is the only one of the top seeds that has not won a national championship.
UConn has 11 NCAA titles, Stanford two and South Carolina one. The Huskies have been to the 12 Final Fours, and last won the championship in 2016.
The No. 2 seeds are Louisville (Alamo), Baylor (River Walk), Maryland (Hemisfair) and Texas A&M (Mercado). All but Louisville are past national champions.
For the past few years, earning one of the top 16 seeds would give a team home games in the tournament’s first two rounds, but that’s not the case this year. Every game will be played in the San Antonio area because of the pandemic, with the last four rounds tipping off at the Alamodome.
This could be one of the most wide-open tournaments, with a dozen teams capable of winning the title. There were five different No. 1 teams in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll this year, including the Huskies, who finished the season at No. 1.
The national semifinals take place on April 2, and the championship game will be held April 4.
Tennessee continued its streak of making the NCAA tournament all 39 years. Joining High Point as NCAA rookies are Stony Brook, Utah Valley and Bradley.
Notre Dame’s run of 24 straight NCAA appearances came to an end. The Irish were one of the first four teams out of the tournament.
Even without Notre Dame, the ACC is well represented with eight teams in the field, including Wake Forest, which is making its first appearance in the tournament since 1988. The SEC and the Big Ten each had seven schools earn bids. The Pac-12 had six. The Big 12 had five.
With no tournament played last season because of the virus, Baylor is still the defending champion. Coach Kim Mulkey’s team is very different from the one that won the title, but still is quite talented, winning the Big 12 regular season and conference tournaments.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
