Today is Selection Sunday, and we now know the 68-team field that will battle it out across the United States is officially locked in. Four teams will make it to Phoenix, Arizona, which will host the Final Four and the Championship.
The First Four, featuring the last four at-large teams and the four lowest-ranked No. 16 seeds, will be held March 18-19. That will be followed by the first two rounds from March 20-23, and the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight will begin on March 27 in Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, California.
The host sites for the first two rounds were revealed on Saturday to aid logistics, but the seeding of those 16 teams remained unknown until the bracket reveal on Sunday evening.
First and second-round games will be hosted by Duke, Iowa, LSU, Louisville, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, TCU, Texas, UCLA, UConn, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.
UConn was awarded the No. 1 overall seed, a decision NCAA DI Women’s Basketball committee chair Amanda Braun said during the broadcast came down to an “observable component [that] really gave the edge” to the Huskies.
Braun elaborated on the decision while speaking to reporters following the broadcast.
“That was a line that we talked about a whole lot. And while metrics come into play and the criteria that we apply, we watch the games and the teams that we talk about,” Braun said. “And so it’s hard to put into words exactly how folks view that. But I do think that given the amount of time that we talked, the style [of] play, the types of wins that they had and the way they played, from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, I would tell you that that’s probably what put it over the edge. Again, UCLA is an incredible team as well.”
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Other matchups — namely, the meeting between No. 7 Tennessee and No. 10 NC State, who faced one another in the preseason — also caught the eyes and ears of basketball fans. Braun said that it wasn’t “a decision” to repair the teams, but simply the result of their seasons.
“It’s really how things continue to play out. There are … bracketing principles that we need to follow as we seed the team,” Braun explained. “So, you know, there’s the selection and seeding process, which we take very seriously. And then we move to bracketing. And there are lots of principles we need to follow that then led to that matchup.”
The process of selecting teams and organizing the bracket isn’t one the committee takes lightly, Braun explained. “Well, this is my fifth year on the committee, and they’re equally as hard. You know, that this is not an easy process,” she told reporters.
Braun added, “I think if you talk to some of the committee members tonight, they’d tell you the same thing. So it isn’t easy. And if you honor this process and all that our student-athletes have put into it all year long, it better be hard, right? Because we want to get it right.”
Here’s a look at the full field and slate of first-round matchups:
Region 1 — Fort Worth
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 UT-San Antonio (Storrs, Conn. | Saturday)
No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 9 Syracuse (Storrs, Conn. | Saturday)
No. 5 Maryland vs. No. 12 Murray State (Chapel Hill, N.C. | Friday)
No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 13 Western Illinois (Chapel Hill, N.C. | Friday)
No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Fairfield (Columbus, Ohio | Saturday)
No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 14 Howard (Columbus, Ohio | Saturday)
No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 10 Colorado (Nashville, Tenn. | Saturday)
No. 2 Vanderbilt vs. No. 15 High Point (Nashville, Tenn. | Saturday)
Region 2 — Sacramento
No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 16 Cal Baptist (Los Angeles, Calif. | Saturday)
No. 8 Oklahoma State vs. No. 9 Princeton (Los Angeles, Calif. | Saturday)
No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Gonzaga (Minneapolis, Minn. | Friday)
No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 13 Green Bay (Minneapolis, Minn. | Friday)
No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 11 Nebraska/No. 11 Richmond (Durham, N.C. | Friday)
No. 3 Duke vs. No. 14 Charleston (Durham, N.C. | Friday)
No. 7 Texas Tech vs. No. 10 Villanova (Baton Rouge, La. | Friday)
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 15 Jacksonville (Baton Rouge, La. | Friday)
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Region 3 — Fort Worth
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 16 Missouri State/No. 16 Stephen F. Austin (Austin, Texas | Friday)
No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 9 Virginia Tech (Austin, Texas | Friday)
No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 12 James Madison (Morgantown, W.V. | Saturday)
No. 4 West Virginia vs. No. 13 Miami (OH) (Morgantown, W.V. | Saturday)
No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 11 Rhode Island (Louisville, KY | Saturday)
No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 14 Vermont (Louisville, Ky. | Saturday)
No. 7 NC State vs. No. 10 Tennessee (Ann Arbor, Mich. | Friday)
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 15 Holy Cross (Ann Arbor, Mich. | Friday)
Region 4 — Sacramento
No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 16 Southern/No. 16 Samford (Columbia, S.C. | Saturday)
No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 USC (Columbia, S.C. | Saturday)
No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Colorado State (Norman, Okla. | Friday)
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 13 Idaho (Norman, Okla. | Friday)
No. 6 Washington vs. No. 11 South Dakota State (Fort Worth, Texas | Friday)
No. 3 TCU vs. No. 14 UC San Diego (Fort Worth, Texas | Friday)
No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 10 Virginia/No. 10 Arizona State (Iowa City, Iowa | Saturday)
No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 15 Fairleigh Dickinson (Iowa City, Iowa | Saturday)