South Carolina women's basketball: Top 16 reveal has Gamecocks as a two seed
South Carolina earned a number two seed in the NCAA selection committee’s final top 16 reveal. The reveal was announced Thursday evening.
In the last two seasons, there was little doubt that South Carolina would be the top overall seed. This season is different. South Carolina has losses to UCLA, Texas (the Gamecocks also beat the Longhorns), and UConn, and is ranked sixth in the polls.
But South Carolina is the second-ranked team in the NET rankings and is tied for the most Quad 1 wins in the nation (11). Those are the two criteria used most by the selection committee.
The result is that South Carolina dropped to a two seed, albeit the top two seed, in Birmingham.
The entire top 16 is:
1. UCLA (Spokane 1)
2. Texas (Birmingham 2)
3. Southern Cal (Spokane 3)
4. Notre Dame (Birmingham 4)
5. South Carolina (Birmingham 4)
6. UConn (Spokane 3)
7. LSU (Spokane 1)
8. NC State (Birmingham 2)
9. TCU (Birmingham 2)
10. North Carolina (Spokane 1)
11. Duke (Spokane 3)
12. Tennessee (Birmingham 4)
13. Oklahoma (Birmingham 4)
14. Kentucky (Spokane 3)
15. Kansas State (Spokane 1)
16. Ohio State (Birmingham 2)
These rankings are considered a snapshot in time as if the season ended today. They are not rankings that the committee builds on for Selection Sunday.
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Teams are seeded on an approximate S-curve, so the committee tries to pair the strongest 1-seed (1st overall) with the weakest 2-seed (8th overall). However, other bracketing rules (for example, conference teams can’t play each other in the first two rounds) prevent a true S-curve.
South Carolina is grouped with #1 Notre Dame, #3 Tennessee, and #4 Oklahoma. Having three SEC teams in one region is unusual. South Carolina beat Tennessee 70-63 in Knoxville and Oklahoma 101-60 in Columbia.
For the third season, the NCAA tournament has only two regional sites: Birmingham, AL, and Spokane, WA. Whether they are a one seed or two seed, the Gamecocks would rather play in Birmingham.
