At the American Athletic Conference tournament semifinals earlier this month in Uncasville, Conn., Cincinnati’s Andeija Puckett, left, looks to pass to Sam Rodgers, right, under pressure from Connecticut’s Kia Nurse. Connecticut is the first overall seed in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament that begins on Saturday.
Jessica Hill/AP
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Jessica Hill/AP
The slots in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket have been filled and Connecticut is the first overall seed.
At 32-0, they are the only team to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten.
The Huskies are aiming for their 12th national championship. Last season, UConn was the overwhelming favorite but lost to Mississippi State in the Final Four.
This year’s other No. 1 seeds are Notre Dame, Louisville and Mississippi State.
Here’s a printable bracket for the women’s tournament.
There were five teams trying to get into the bracket’s top spots and in the end Baylor lost out.
The Associated Press reports the Bears, who lost just one game all season (31-1), instead get a No. 2 seed in Lexington, a region that includes top-seeded Louisville, Tennessee and Stanford.
“‘We felt there was a razor-thin margin between Baylor and Notre Dame,’ said NCAA women’s basketball committee chair Rhonda Bennett. ‘Notre Dame did have the top strength of schedule in the country and they did have the best strength of schedule in the country and they had nine more top-50 wins than Baylor and those were the reason that the committee put Notre Dame on that one line and Baylor on that two line.’
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said she doesn’t see it as that big a deal.
‘We’ve won a national championship as a two seed, we’ve won it as a one seed,’ she said. ‘And really what does it matter? Because the one has to play the two. Mississippi State was a two last year and they played for the national championship. We were a two seed in 2005 and we played and won the national championship.'”
The first round of the women’s tournament begins on Saturday. UConn faces St. Francis University of Loretto, Pa.
The men’s NCAA basketball bracket was announced on Sunday.