Here’s where N.C. State stands in the first NCAA women’s tournament bracket reveal
N.C. State is in line to host NCAA women’s tournament games, as a No. 2 regional seed, when the games are played beginning next month.
The NCAA selection committee revealed an early peek at their top 16 teams on Thursday night, listing the Wolfpack at No. 6 nationally and No. 2 regional seed in the Albany Regional 3 bracket.
Ranked No. 6 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, N.C. State played at No. 12-ranked Notre Dame on Thursday night.
The other ACC teams in the committee’s top 16 are Virginia Tech at No. 10 and Louisville at No. 16.
The top four national seeds are, in order, South Carolina in the Albany 1 region, Stanford in the Portland 2 region, Ohio State in Albany 3 and Colorado in Portland 4.
“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,” said Lisa Peterson, the Pac-12’s senior associate commissioner and chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. “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.”
Joining NC State on the No. 2 seed line are No. 5 Iowa in the Portland regional 4 bracket, No. 7 UCLA in the Albany regional 1 bracket and No. 8 Texas in the Portland regional 2 bracket.
The No. 3 seeds are No. 12 UConn in Albany 1, No. 9 Southern California in Albany 3, No. 11 Oregon State in Portland 2 and No. 10 Virginia Tech in Portland 4.
The No. 4 seeds are No. 14 Kansas State at Portland 4, No. 14 LSU in Albany 3, No. 15 Indiana in Portland 2 and Louisville in Albany 1.
Unlike the men’s tournament, where all games are played on neutral sites, the women’s tournament awards the top 16 teams host sites for the first two rounds before the regional and Final Four games are played at neutral sites.
This is the second year in a row the women’s tournament will use two regional sites instead of four like the men’s tournament uses. Two regional champions will emerge from each site to comprise the Final Four.
The committee will unveil another early peek at its top 16 on Feb. 29. The full, official bracket will be released at 8 p.m. on March 17. Tournament games begin with the First Four contests on March 20-21 before first-round games are played March 22-23.
Regional round games are March 29-April 1 at Portland’s Moda Center and the Times-Union Center in Albany, New York.
This season’s Final Four games, at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, will be played April 5 and 7.
