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NCAAW Tournament Top 16 prediction: Notre Dame will be the fourth 1 seed

By Russell Steinberg

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 07: Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Marina Mabrey (3) during the women's college basketball game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on January 07, 2018 at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 07: Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Marina Mabrey (3) during the women's college basketball game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on January 07, 2018 at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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9. Ohio State 16-3 (5-1 Big Ten)

The Buckeyes have a Maryland-Iowa road swing coming next week, so let’s withhold judgment on them until that’s over. A home loss to Michigan on Tuesday was disappointing, but Ohio State got them in Ann Arbor.

10. Florida State 16-2 (4-1 ACC)

The ‘Noles’ win at Iowa is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for them right now, so they need to hope the Hawkeyes can turn it around. Either that, or maybe knock off Louisville or Notre Dame to remain a 3 seed.

11. UCLA 13-4 (4-2 Pac-12)

The Bruins check all the boxes needed for a high seed with a big non-conference win over Baylor, a big road win at Cal, and no head-scratching losses. The next task: pad that resume against the stronger teams in the Pac-12.

12. Baylor 16-1 (6-0 Big 12)

Maybe I’m missing something. ESPN Bracketologist Charlie Creme has Baylor as a 1 seed and I barely have the Bears on the 3 line. So tell me this: What has Baylor done to warrant a better seed? Sure, the Bears are 16-1, but they’ve played only five (FIVE!) games against teams with a winning record vs. Division I competition. Their loss at UCLA is nothing to sneeze at, sure, but where are the quality wins? Stanford is solid, not great, and that’s about it. Baylor could end up on the 1 line by the end of the season, but it needs to beat Texas or West Virginia or Oklahoma State or anybody good to get there. It hasn’t happened yet. I can see wanting to move Baylor up simply based on the eye test, or preseason projections, but I cannot come up with a justification for moving them ahead of anybody listed above them. And I’ve tried to come up with one. I promise.

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