NCAA Women's Tournament bracket: Top 16 seeds revealed ahead of Selection Sunday

The road to March Madness is nearly set. On Saturday, the NCAA revealed the Top 16 seeds for the upcoming Women’s Basketball Tournament ahead of Selection Sunday. 

It offers an early look at which teams will have an inside track during the opening rounds of the postseason. As you may have expected, the programs included in the top 16 are squads like UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas, all of whom strengthened their résumés with impressive performances during conference tournament play. 

• Duke
• Iowa
• Louisville
• LSU
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• North Carolina
• Ohio State
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• TCU
• Texas
• UCLA
• UConn
• Vanderbilt
• West Virginia

First off, the Huskies enter the tournament on a dominant run after tearing through the Big East Conference tournament. They opened the event with an 84–39 victory over Georgetown before overwhelming Creighton 100–51 in the semifinals. The 100-point performance set a program record for scoring in a Big East Tournament game as UConn continued its historic postseason tradition.

Elsewhere, UCLA also made a major statement in their conference championship game. The Bruins stunned fans with a commanding 96–45 victory over Iowa to capture the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament title. Six UCLA players reached double figures, led by Gianna Kneepkens, who finished with a team-high 19 points while knocking down four three-pointers.

Meanwhile, Texas claimed their first SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament championship in Greenville with a convincing 78–61 win over South Carolina. The Longhorns set the tone early with a 14–0 run to open the game and never relinquished control. Star forward Madison Booker led the way with 18 points, while Justice Carlton added 14 points and four rebounds.

Alas, South Carolina reached the SEC title game after a hard-fought semifinal victory over LSU, powered by a career-high 22 points from Raven Johnson and 19 from Ta’Niya Latson. The Tigers nearly pulled off the upset behind a 24-point effort from MiLaysia Fulwiley, but they struggled with turnovers, which ultimately proved costly.

Moreover, Duke secured their second straight ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament title with a 70–65 overtime victory over Louisville. Delaney Thomas forced overtime with a late layup before Riley Nelson sealed the win with a clutch three-pointer in the extra period.

As you can glean, other teams included among the projected top 16 seeds are Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, TCU, Vanderbilt and West Virginia Mountaineers.

With Selection Sunday approaching, the final bracket will soon determine matchups and host sites for the opening rounds of the tournament. The teams listed among the Top 16 will have an advantage as they begin their pursuit of a national championship.

— On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this article.