Women: Second-half collapse ends LSU’s quest for a No. 1 seed
By Charlie Creme Updated: 3/5/2023 at 1: 00 a.m. ET
The women’s NCAA tournament will undergo significant change for the second consecutive season. The field expanded to 68 teams last year. This season, the customary four regional sites have been reduced to two: Seattle and Greenville, South Carolina. The top 16 teams will continue to host the first and second rounds, and the First Four games will again be played at the site of the first-round games to which they feed. Defending champion South Carolina is the heavy favorite, and the Gamecocks seek to become the first repeat champions since UConn in 2015-16. The Final Four is March 31 and April 2 at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Bracket Watch
LSU’s second-half collapse and loss to Tennessee in the SEC semifinals could mean a huge swing in the Tigers’ seed. LSU had put itself back in position to make a run at a No. 1 seed. With an impressive win over the Lady Vols and an upset of — or perhaps just a good, competitive performance against — South Carolina, the Tigers could have landed on the top line. The door was open; they had gotten help from losses by Maryland, Stanford and Utah. Instead, LSU is now in danger of dropping to a 3-seed. With Ohio State playing for the Big Ten title and UConn getting Azzi Fudd back, the Buckeyes and Huskies are on the verge of catching the Tigers. The Terps and Cardinal had the depth of quality wins on the résumé to withstand early conference tournament defeats. LSU did not, making the loss to Tennessee so consequential and potentially season-changing.
On the Bubble
68-Team Bracket
Greenville 1
Columbia
Chapel Hill
Columbus
Salt Lake City
Seattle 4
College Park
Los Angeles
Storrs
Blacksburg
Greenville 2
Bloomington
Villanova
Durham
Baton Rouge
Seattle 3
Stanford
Austin
South Bend
Iowa City
Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock
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The author of 5 books, 3 of which are New York Times bestsellers. I’ve been published in more than 100 newspapers and magazines and am a frequent commentator on NPR.
