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Where Notre Dame women’s basketball stands in AP Poll, ESPN Bracketology

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•about 10 hours•

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Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo, right, high fives staff before a NCAA women's basketball game between No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 25 Louisville at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, March 2, 2025, in South Bend. (Photo by MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Notre Dame’s wold focus this week is on the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, but we’re officially inside of two weeks away from Selection Sunday. Soon, the Fighting Irish will know what seed will be attached to their name when they get into the big dance at the end of the month.

As of now, ESPN bracket expert Charlie Creme has Notre Dame penciled in as a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament in his latest bracketology update, which came out Monday morning. These are the pool of teams the Irish are battling with this week in respective conference tournaments for the right to be named a No. 1 seed on March 16, per Creme’s current projections…

No. 1 seeds
Texas
South Carolina
UCLA
USC

No. 2 seeds
Notre Dame
LSU
UConn
NC State

The Irish have all kinds of ties to the seven other teams in this mix. For starters, they’ve beaten three of them this season — Texas, USC and UConn. They lost to one, NC State. There is a chance to avenge that loss in the ACC Tournament championship game should both teams make it to Sunday.

If you’re into transitive property, Notre Dame has that win over Texas and the Longhorns have a win over South Carolina. The Longhorns also beat LSU not too long ago. Notre Dame has that win over USC and the Trojans have two wins over UCLA.

At its best, Notre Dame is absolutely in the same realm as its counterparts here. The issue is the Irish have not been at their best over the last week, and Creme — and probably the tournament committee — have definitely taken notice.

The media has, too; even with their 72-59 win over then-No. 25 Louisville on Sunday, the Irish came in at No. 6 in the Associated Press Poll on Monday. That’s Notre Dame’s lowest ranking in the AP Top 25 since falling to No. 10 in the first week of December and coming in at No. 8 the week after that. The Irish have been in the top three from the middle of December onward until now.

Here’s a look at the entire AP Poll heading into conference tournament week.

Conference tournament week women’s Basketball AP Top 25: Notre Dame No. 6

1. Texas (29-2)
2. USC (26-2)
3. UConn (28-3)
4. UCLA (27-2)

5. South Carolina (27-3)
6. Notre Dame (25-4)
7. NC State (24-5)
8. TCU (28-3)

9. LSU (27-4)
10. Oklahoma (23-6)
11. Duke (23-7)
12. Kentucky (22-6)

13. Ohio State (24-5)
14. North Carolina (25-6)
15. Maryland (23-6)
16. West Virgina (23-6)

17. Baylor (25-6)
18. Tennessee (21-8)
19. Alabama (23-7)
20. Kansas State (25-6)

21. Oklahoma State (24-5)
22. Florida State (23-7)
23. Creighton (24-5)
24. Michigan State (21-8)
25. North Dakota State (26-3)

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