UCLA named No. 1 seed in women's early bracket

The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee tabbed UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and Notre Dame as the No. 1 seeds in its early projection of the top 16 seeds in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The committee revealed its early bracket Sunday and kept UCLA at the top, despite the Bruins' 71-60 loss to crosstown rival Southern California on Thursday. It was their first setback of the season.

USC was rewarded with a projected No. 2 seed by the committee, joined by LSU, UConn and North Carolina State.

If the season were to end today, TCU, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas State would be on the third rung, per the committee, with Kentucky, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Tennessee as No. 4 seeds.

"With 29 days to go before Selection Sunday, this first reveal provided some clarity on the top teams today and also pointed to the many important matchups that will be played over the next several weeks that will greatly impact the 2025 championship field," said Derita Dawkins, chair of the committee and deputy athletic director at Arkansas.

With the loss to USC (22-1, 12-1 Big Ten), UCLA (23-1, 11-1) actually fell behind the Trojans in the Big Ten standings. But the committee clearly felt strongly about the Bruins' resume, which includes six Top 25 wins. One of them was against defending national champion South Carolina, which was ranked No. 1 on Nov. 24 when UCLA pulled off a 15-point head-to-head win.

The announcement Sunday of the top 16 will have no impact when the 68-team field is announced on March 16.

Here's how the committee stacked up the 16 teams and put them in regions -- again subject to change.

Spokane 1

1. UCLA

2. LSU

3. Duke

4. Tennessee

Birmingham 2

1. South Carolina

2. NC State

3. TCU

4. Oklahoma

Birmingham 3

1. Texas

2. UConn

3. North Carolina

4. Ohio State

Spokane 4

1. Notre Dame

2. Southern California

3. Kansas State

4. Kentucky

--Field Level Media