March Madness: SEC claims 2 of top 4 seeds in early women's basketball NCAA tournament bracket reveal

The SEC made a strong showing among the NCAA women's basketball early bracket reveal, announced on Sunday.

Two of the top four seeds and three of the top six teams were from the conference among the prospective top 16 unveiled by the Women's Basketball Committee. Defending national champion South Carolina (No. 2, 23-2) and Texas (No. 3, 25-2) have two of the No. 1 seeds, while LSU is ranked No. 6 overall.

UCLA (23-1, 11-1 Big Ten), which took its first loss of the season on Thursday versus USC, is the No. 1 overall seed, while Notre Dame (22-2, 13-0 ACC) is No. 4.

NCAA DI Women's Basketball Top 16 Reveal

No. 1️⃣ Overall: UCLA#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/xIkjPwJ55j

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) February 16, 2025

“We were pretty certain as a group that we had the right four on the one line,” NCAA women’s basketball selection committee chair Derita Dawkins said to The Associated Press.

The Fighting Irish are one of four ACC teams in the top 16 along with NC State, Duke and North Carolina.

Joining the Gamecocks and Longhorns from the SEC are Kentucky (No. 13, 19-4), Oklahoma (No. 15, 18-6) and Tennessee (No. 16, 18-6). The conference's presence in the women's early bracket resembles the men's bracket revealed on Saturday, in which the SEC has six spots among the top 16, with Auburn, Alabama and Florida each holding No. 1 seeds.

Filling out the rest of the top 16, USC (No. 5, 22-2) and Ohio State (No. 14, 21-3) join UCLA from the Big Ten, UConn (No. 7, 23-3) represents the Big East, and TCU (No. 9, 23-3) and Kansas State (No. 12, 24-3) are the Big 12 teams in the mix.

The next top 16 reveal will be Feb. 26.

NCAA DI Women's Basketball Top 16 Reveal.#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/5bfJT8CzQs

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) February 16, 2025

The top 16 seeds of the early bracket, along with the current regional assignments in Spokane, Washington, and Birmingham, Alabama, line up as follows: