NC State women would be No. 1 seed if NCAA tournament started today

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament selection committee released its initial top 16 on Thursday night, giving us a look at the pecking order at the top of the bracket as February approaches. Not surprisingly, NC State is on the 1-seed line.

South Carolina is the clear No. 1 overall seed at this point, while Stanford and NC State were going to be 2-3 in some order, so there are no surprises at the top here. You could argue that State warrants the No. 2 overall seed over the Cardinal, but Stanford also scheduled aggressively in the non-conference, and that factor is a wash at best. Both teams have beaten Maryland and Indiana, and both have lost to South Carolina.

Stanford has played more Q1 games (12 to nine) and also has a win over Tennessee, which is the fourth No. 1 seed. That may be what’s differentiating the Cardinal in the eyes of the committee.

You can take a gander at Stanford’s team sheet here, and State’s is here.

Anyway, not a big deal right now, obviously, but the Pack would love to hop over Stanford come March. (I don’t think South Carolina is going anywhere.) It’s a bit early to be scoreboard watching, so let’s see how this top 16 looks in a couple more weeks.