Top 16 seeds revealed: South Carolina, Baylor, Oregon and Maryland lead the way
With two weeks until Selection Monday, the NCAA released its ranking of the top 16 teams
South Carolina, Baylor, Oregon and Maryland are the No. 1 seeds in this year’s national tournament, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee announced Monday night. These teams will lead the Greenville, Dallas, Portland and Fort Wayne Regionals, respectively.
The Gamecocks, led by Dawn Staley, have a 29-1 overall record and are currently on a 23-game winning streak while Baylor, the defending national champion, is 27-1 overall and unbeaten in Big 12 Conference play.
The Ducks are 28-2 on the season and has a generational player in Sabrina Ionescu, who became the first Division I player in men’s or women’s history to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds just a week ago.
Meanwhile, Maryland was just crowned Big Ten Conference regular season champion alongside Northwestern with a 16-2 conference record. The Terrapins have won 14 straight games and are heading into the Big Ten Conference Tournament later this week.
More from NCAA
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, April 6: Stanford defeats Arizona in a tightly contested matchup to win the national title
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 30: UConn and Baylor deliver a classic battle of storied programs
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 26: Louisville and Texas A&M survive and advance
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 23: Highlights from the first round of the NCAA Tournament
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 16: Tournament bracket released
Here are the NCAA’s Division I women’s basketball top 16 rankings as of March 2nd:
1. South Carolina (No. 1 seed – Greenville Region)
2. Baylor (No. 1 seed – Dallas Region)
3. Oregon (No. 1 seed – Portland Region)
4. Maryland (No. 1 seed – Fort Wayne Region)
5. Louisville
6. UConn
7. Stanford
8. UCLA
9. Northwestern
10. NC State
11. Mississippi State
12. Gonzaga
13. Iowa
14. Arizona
15. Oregon State
16. DePaul
As things stand, the Greenville Regional would be made up of South Carolina, UCLA, NC State and Oregon State. Baylor, Stanford, Mississippi State and Iowa would compete in the Dallas Regional; Oregon, UConn, Northwestern and DePaul would play in the Portland Regional while Maryland, Louisville, Gonzaga and Arizona would make up the Fort Wayne Regional.
The full 64-team announcement is set to be revealed on Monday, March 16 during the ESPN Selection Show at 7 p.m. ET. The first round of the 2020 NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament begins on Friday, March 20.
Love our 24/7 women’s basketball coverage? Join our Patreon now and support this work, while getting extra goodies and subscriber-only content for yourself.