NC State in line for a No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament as February approaches

The NC State women’s basketball program earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history last year. So coming back and doing that again in 2022 was a primary goal going into this season.

As of late January, the Wolfpack is in position to grab another top seed. In the latest bracketology from ESPN’s Charlie Creme, State is the No. 2 overall seed in the field, behind only South Carolina. The Pack would open against the winner of a First Four game (the women’s tourney expanded to 68 this year) between 16-seeds in this scenario.

NC State is No. 2 in the NET and No. 2 in the HerHoopStats ratings as well. (No idea if anyone on the committee consults the latter, but it’s the closest to a women’s hoops KenPom.)

The Wolfpack already has a bunch of wins over teams in the projected field: Louisville (projected 2-seed), Indiana (2), UNC (5), Maryland (6), Kansas State (6), Duke (7), Virginia Tech (7). So the resume is strong already, and with the ACC being deep this year, there will be plenty of opportunities down the stretch to add to this list. Schedule strength is not going to be something that hurts the Pack in March, especially after that non-conference slate.

As long as NC State maintains its grip on first place in the ACC, you can assume this is a No. 1 seed as it stands.