Where Kentucky women’s basketball stands in the NCAA’s first bracket seeding preview
Despite a difficult week for No. 8 Kentucky women’s basketball, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee still considers the Wildcats to be a top-16 overall seed ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN revealed the top 16 teams designated by the committee on Sunday afternoon, precisely one month away from Selection Sunday. Though Kentucky (19-4, 8-3 SEC) suffered a two-game skid last week, falling to both unranked Ole Miss on the road and No. 8 Texas in Lexington, the Wildcats eked their way in as a No. 4 seed.
Kentucky is one of six Southeastern Conference teams among the top 16 seeds, which would mean a home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA, which lost its first game of the season on Thursday in a crosstown showdown against Southern California, was named (as expected) the No. 1 overall seed. South Carolina, Texas and Notre Dame were also named to the top line.
If the season ended today and this early preview were to stand, the Trojans, alongside LSU, Connecticut and North Carolina State would be No. 2 seeds, while TCU, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas State would be No. 3 seeds. Kentucky, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Tennessee round out the top 16, and would be No. 4 seeds.
The Wildcats would be assigned to the Spokane 4 Region, joining Notre Dame, Southern California and Kansas State. UCLA would lead Spokane Region 1, which would also include LSU, Duke and Tennessee; South Carolina would be assigned to the Birmingham 2 Region with N.C. State, TCU and Oklahoma; and Texas would be the top seed in the Birmingham 3 Region, to be joined by Connecticut, North Carolina and Ohio State.
The NCAA NET rankings, which are updated daily to reflect all Division I contests, serve as a major component of the selection committee’s process to determine the inclusion and seeding of the to-be-determined NCAA Tournament teams. At the time of the writing of this article, ahead of the Wildcats’ rematch against Georgia on Sunday afternoon, the Wildcats were ranked No. 21 in the NET.
The No. 1 seeds revealed in Sunday’s preview rank in the NET as follows — No. 5 UCLA, No. 1 South Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Notre Dame.
The Wildcats have yet to face Missouri, LSU, Tennessee and South Carolina before the regular season ends. Kentucky is fighting to remain in position for a double bye in the SEC Tournament, which is scheduled to take place at Bon Secours Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, from March 5-9.
Kentucky is fourth overall in the SEC standings behind Texas, South Carolina and LSU, which each have just one league loss. Ole Miss and Alabama, the latter of which Kentucky maintains an edge over due to tiebreaker rules, lurk in fifth and sixth place, respectively, with four conference losses apiece.
