If the college basketball season ended today, Colorado would be one of four No. 1 seeds for the NCAA women’s tournament.
On Thursday night, the NCAA Division I women’s basketball committee announced its first top-16 early reveal of the season, with South Carolina, Stanford, Ohio State and CU listed as the No. 1 seeds, in that order.
Top-ranked South Carolina, which won at Tennessee 66-55 on Thursday to remain the only unbeaten team in the country, is the top overall seed.
CU, ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press poll, is slotted as the No. 4 overall seed and the top seed for the Portland Regional 4. The Buffs (20-4, 10-3 Pac-12) visit No. 22-ranked Utah on Friday night.
“The only obvious choice in this first reveal was South Carolina as the top overall seed, with the other 15 seeding decisions being a significant challenge,” Lisa Peterson, senior associate commissioner of the Pac-12 Conference and chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee said to NCAA.com. “The race is on for teams to provide clarity over the next 32 days before Selection Sunday with a lot of big games upcoming for all of the teams involved.”
The committee will have one other top-16 reveal, on Feb. 29 at 4:30 p.m. MT on ESPN2. The tournament Selection Show will take place March 17 at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN.
NCAA DI Women’s Basketball Committee Top 16 Ranking
1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. Ohio State
4. Colorado
5. Iowa
6. NC State
7. UCLA
8. Texas
9. USC
10. Virginia Tech
11. Oregon State
12. UConn
13. Kansas State
14. LSU
15. Indiana
16. Louisville
Regional Assignments
Albany Regional 1 – 1. South Carolina; 2. UCLA; 3. UConn; 4. Louisville
Portland Regional 2 – 1. Stanford; 2. Texas; 3. Oregon State; 4. Indiana
Albany Regional 3 – 1. Ohio State; 2. NC State; 3. Southern California; 4. LSU
Portland Regional 4 – 1. Colorado; 2. Iowa; 3. Virginia Tech; 4. Kansas State