UConn Huskies fans could be in for a surprise Saturday when the top 16 teams in women's college basketball are announced (the first strong sign that March Madness is inevitably around the corner) — and it's all because of a quadrant system that's still relatively new.
Projections for the top of the bracket are becoming clearer by the day, and most have UCLA, UConn, South Carolina, and Texas predicted to lead their conferences. But despite the fact that the Huskies are the only team in women's basketball with an undefeated season, there's a prettty strong reason to suspect that, like last year, UConn may not be the overall No. 1 seed.
Instead, thanks to the quadrant system that was introduced to women's college basketball during the 2024-25 season, that honor may well go to the UCLA Bruins.
Explaining the quad system in college basketball
The women's tournament began using the quadrant-based system as one way to evaluate and choosing the 68 teams that will participate in March Madness in the summer of 2024. Per ESPN, the system helps evaluate teams based on the quality of their wins and uses a sliding scale based on where a game is played.
While the quad system doesn't have a huge impact on who is or isn't chosen — at the end of the day, all the heavy hitters will be well-represented — it could be the reason UConn receives a No. 2 overall seed instead of No. 1. The team has dealt with accusations that their conference simply isn't as tough as it could be, which could be interpreted as saying the program has an easier time blasting through their opponents than other schools do.
As ESPN also explained, the quad system essentially serves to help assess how difficult the path to a win was for a specific school or program. The quad system also helps to assist in reflecting that winning an away game is typically more difficult.
How the quad system could benefit UCLA
The UCLA Bruins could end up as the No. 1 seed becaused, based on the quad system, the team has won their game by fighting their way down a tougher path. In fact, it's possible South Carolina or Texas, both SEC schools with 24-2 and 23-2 overall records, respectively (at time of writing), could end up surpassing UConn as well.
Now, will that matter a single bit to the Huskies as they fight their way toward the Championship game in Phoenix? Absolutely not — just like it didn't last year in Tampa.