Overview
- The selection committee placed undefeated UConn as the overall No. 1 with UCLA, South Carolina and Vanderbilt on the top seed line, and the Top 16 would host the opening two rounds with regionals in Fort Worth and Sacramento.
- Committee chair Amanda Braun said the panel uses 12 criteria and noted Vanderbilt’s head-to-head win over Texas as the key tiebreaker for the final No. 1 slot.
- Post-reveal results quickly tested the projection: Georgia upset Vanderbilt, Kentucky beat Ole Miss, and Maryland rallied to defeat Ohio State, while Texas edged Tennessee in a tight finish.
- The initial list included six SEC teams and six Big Ten teams, highlighting league strength and influencing how teams were assigned to the two super-regional sites.
- Next steps include a second Top-16 reveal on March 1, an alphabetical list of host schools the day before Selection Sunday, and the full bracket on March 15, as UConn remained a unanimous No. 1 in Monday’s AP poll.