Women’s basketball bracketology: Oregon claims a 1 seed by a narrow margin

DURHAM, NC – FEBRUARY 25: North Carolina Tar Heels center Janelle Bailey (44) pushing past Duke Blue Devils center Bego Faz Davalos (21) during the 2nd half of the Women’s Duke Blue Devils game versus the Women’s North Carolina Tar Heels on February 25, 2018, at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC. (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Waco:

1. Baylor (Big 12)
16. Southern (SWAC)

8. Central Michigan
9. North Carolina

Piscataway:

5. Arizona State
12. Penn (Ivy)

4. Rutgers (Big Ten)
13. Bucknell (Patriot)

I had to do a little course correcting this week with North Carolina. The Tar Heels proved their win over Notre Dame was no fluke by beating bubble team Georgia Tech and 2 seed NC State in Raleigh. That caused me to take a closer look at the Tar Heels’ resume and accept that I was undervaluing them before. That’s how they went from out of the field entirely to a 9 seed in the blink of an eye. That Maine loss from December will still cost them eventually, but that becomes a smaller blip with every good ACC win.

Syracuse:

6. Texas A&M
11. James Madison (CAA)

3. Syracuse
14. VCU (Atlantic 10)

Storrs:

7. Indiana
10 Ohio (MAC)

2. Connecticut (AAC)
15. Mercer (Southern)

Pretend for a moment that this bracket is actually what the committee comes up with on Selection Monday. This region would be the kind that leads to wild fan conspiracy theories about the committee fixing the bracket for particular matchups. A Sweet 16 of Baylor, Rutgers, UConn, and Syracuse would be fantastic for the sport and any of those four could advance to Tampa. And that’s assuming Arizona State doesn’t reach the Sweet 16, which is a bonkers assumption to make.