00:00Selection Sunday has arrived and the bracket for the 2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament is officially set.
00:07And after a dominant 34-0 regular season, the UConn Huskies women's basketball squad,
00:12they enter the tournament as the number one overall seed and they are the team that everyone is going to
00:18be chasing as March Madness begins.
00:20But as we've seen year after year in this tournament, it's got a way of producing surprises.
00:26Powerhouses like UCLA, Texas, and South Carolina, they are also entering the tournament as number one seeds and plenty of
00:33other teams.
00:33They're going to be looking to play the role of March Madness spoiler.
00:37So to help us break down the bracket and what to expect in this year's tournament,
00:43we're going to be joined by Megan Gower, bracketologist for her hoop stats and women's basketball writer for the UConn
00:48blog.
00:49Joins me now here to talk about the tournament. Megan, how are you doing?
00:54I am good. How are you?
00:55I am doing great. Doing fantastic. Glad to talk some hoops with you.
00:59And Meg, Selection Sunday, interesting as always.
01:02It's interesting to watch and then the discussion you follow on social media, everybody's got their opinion.
01:07So my first question to you is, when you step back and you look at this year's bracket as a
01:11whole,
01:11what was the biggest surprise if there was one or a storyline that stood out to you from Selection Sunday?
01:17I think maybe the biggest storyline going into tonight was who was going to be the number one overall seed.
01:23As you said, it was UConn there, 34-0, undefeated on the season.
01:27But there was a lot of folks making an argument as well for UCLA to get that top spot.
01:31They have just one loss. It rolled through the Big Ten, had 19 quad one wins.
01:35So it certainly had an argument.
01:37But ultimately, it was UConn that landed there.
01:40The other big surprise, I think, coming out of tonight's reveal was Tennessee falling to a 10th seed in the
01:46bracket.
01:47I think there was a lot of questions about how the Lady Vols would be seated.
01:50They lost their last seven games and really just had a collapse like we haven't really seen before by a
01:56team of the level that they were at kind of going into February.
02:00But they landed as a 10th seed.
02:02So still in the field, but I think a little lower than people expected.
02:05Yeah, it is.
02:05Seems like the committee wasn't sure what to do with them with all those losses that they had there in
02:10a row.
02:11But you mentioned UConn, Megan, and with their dominant 34-0 season, they get the number one overall seed, as
02:16I think most people expected.
02:19But my question here is how much pressure is there on this Huskies team heading into this tournament?
02:23And do you think there is a great path with that number one overall seed for them to get six
02:28more wins this season?
02:30Yeah, I mean, I think UConn has just, as you said, dominated all season long and looking to get six
02:38more wins going into the season.
02:39There's always a lot of pressure on the Huskies.
02:41They're always a favorite or in the conversation.
02:43I think a runaway favorite in a lot of conversations this year.
02:47So a lot of pressure there.
02:48But at the same time, I think they're in a region where they've got some teams they've seen before.
02:52They've got a good path to get there.
02:55And then I think once you get to Phoenix, any of these top seeds are really good.
02:59But when you have the likes of Sarah Strong, who's, I think, not really much argument, the best player in
03:05the country,
03:05AC Fudd, that will probably be a first-team All-American on someone's teams.
03:10They've got a lot of talent to carry this team to a championship.
03:13Yeah, that dynamic duo is interesting.
03:16And then it'll be interesting to see if they get to the Final Four, who else will be there with
03:19them.
03:19Which brings me to my next question, because the other No. 1 seeds in this tournament are UCLA.
03:24You mentioned them earlier in Region 2, Texas in Region 3, South Carolina in Region 4.
03:29Which of those other No. 1 seeds, Megan, are the biggest threat to dethroning UConn?
03:35I think you have to point to UCLA when you just look at what they've been able to do this
03:40season.
03:40Undefeated in the Big Ten, which has been one of the top conferences in the women's game all year long.
03:46I mean, they have Lauren Betts in the post, who's just a fantastic player for them.
03:49But they're all around a really balanced team.
03:52They've got their five starters are all capable of scoring the basketball, players off the bench.
03:56A lot of experience is a very heavy senior class roster.
04:00And they made it to the Final Four for the first time last year.
04:03And now we're looking to come back and win it all with this team.
04:08Yeah, UCLA, a strong and formidable opponent.
04:10Only one loss on the season for the Bruins.
04:13And you know this when it comes to the tournament.
04:15We're always looking for dark horses in March Madness.
04:18So which non-No. 1 seed do you think has the best chance to make a deep run in this
04:24tournament?
04:25Yeah, I think there's two teams I'll point to.
04:28The first being LSU in UCLA's region.
04:31So that makes it a little tougher for them.
04:33But I just think this LSU team has a lot of talent and maybe is the most talented team.
04:38I'm just purely on paper outside of those number one seeds.
04:42And a team that certainly could make a run.
04:45They played South Carolina really close at the end of the regular season as well as in the SEC tournament.
04:50And then down in Texas' region, the three seed, Louisville.
04:53This is a team that I think has a lot of transfers, but they've found a way to mesh together.
04:58And it has really gotten hot as the season closes out.
05:01They lost to Duke in the ACC tournament final.
05:04But Jeff Walls is no stranger to the Final Four.
05:07And I've got my eye on them as well.
05:08All right, you got your eye on those two teams there.
05:11We'll see how they fare.
05:12Last thing for me here, Megan and I, look, I know this.
05:14I know the brackets, they just came out.
05:16And I am putting you on the spot here.
05:18But what are your early Final Four picks?
05:20And who do you think is cutting down the nets this year in Phoenix?
05:25So to be a little interesting and not go full number one seeds, because I very well could see a
05:29place where we get to UConn, UCLA, Texas, and South Carolina.
05:32I'm going to go stick with UConn and UCLA.
05:34I expect both of those teams to make it to Phoenix and then pick Louisville out of Texas' region and
05:41then South Carolina out of the last one and then expect it to be UConn-UCLA for the championship.
05:47I think that's the matchup everyone's kind of looking forward to for the championship if we get it.
05:51See, that's the thing.
05:52You know this.
05:53It's always the matchup everyone's looking for.
05:55We're always zeroed in on it, and sometimes we don't get it.
05:58So let me ask you this, too.
05:59If we get UCLA versus UConn, which I personally want to see, if we get that matchup, who do you
06:05think wins that one?
06:06Are you going with UConn or are you going with UCLA?
06:09I'm going with UConn.
06:10I just think the Huskies have, as much as UCLA has a ton of talent, the Huskies have the two
06:15All-Americans in Sarah Strong and AZ Fudd, and Sarah Strong in particular, just the best player in the country.
06:21And Gina's been there many, many times, more times than many can count, and I just think he's going to
06:28be able to lead this team to the win.
06:30I don't think that's a bad pick at all.
06:32That would be a 40-0 season for UConn.
06:34We will see if they can do it.
06:36The women's bracket is out now.
06:38Check out Megan Gower.
06:39She does a fantastic job with her hoop stats, doing all the bracketology there.
06:43Megan, I appreciate you coming on with me to help break it down, and we'll talk again soon.
06:47Thanks for having me.
06:51Thanks for having me.
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