UConn women’s basketball slotted as a 3-seed in initial NCAA bracket reveal

UConn women’s basketball is the No. 11 overall seed in the NCAA selection committee’s initial bracket reveal. If the season ended today, the Huskies would be a 3-seed in the Spokane Regional. The top 16 seeds were revealed by ESPN on Thursday.

UConn has already played three top-16 teams, all of which were losses: No. 1 South Carolina, No. 5 Louisville and No. 14 Oregon. The Huskies will also play No. 4 Tennessee on Feb. 6 at the XL Center.

While the Bridgeport Regional would draw significantly more fans with UConn in it, the NCAA doesn’t allow more than multiple teams from the same conference to be top-four seeds in the same regional if possible. Since the SEC and Big 12 both have four teams in the top 16, the Huskies get bumped to Spokane, Washington for now.

There’s still plenty of time for that to change before Selection Sunday on March 8, though.

UConn’s initial seeding isn’t much of a surprise. The Huskies are currently the No. 10 team in the AP and are just 12-4 after dealing with injuries and COVID absences to Paige Bueckers, Christyn Williams, Azzi Fudd, Nika Mühl and Aubrey Griffin. They have just one win against a an AP Top 25 opponent — No. 20 Notre Dame — and also earned wins over DePaul and UCLA, who are receiving votes in the poll.

If UConn can earn a signature win against Tennessee and win out in Big East play, the Huskies will likely rise in the rankings before March.