Michael VoepelFeb 14, 2026, 08:38 PM ET
- Michael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women's college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women's basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.
UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Vanderbilt are the projected No. 1 seeds in the women's NCAA tournament, it was announced Saturday when the NCAA released its first early reveal of the top 16 seeds.
As part of the announcement, the NCAA also revealed the projected regions the top 16 seeds would be slotted into. The regionals this year are in Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, California. The women's tournament moved to a two-regional system in 2023, with two champions crowned at each site.
Defending national champion UConn, the overall No. 1 seed, is projected into the Fort Worth 1 regional, along with LSU (No. 8 seed overall), Ohio State (No. 9) and Oklahoma (No. 16.) The Huskies are 26-0 and the only unbeaten team in Division I women's hoops. They are seeking the program's seventh perfect season and 13th national championship.
In the Sacramento 2 regional are UCLA (No. 2 overall), Texas (No. 5), Duke, (No. 10) and Ole Miss (No. 15).
The Fort Worth 3 regional is led by No. 3 overall seed South Carolina, along with Louisville (No. 7), Iowa (No. 11) and Michigan State (No. 14).
And in the Sacramento 4 regional, Vanderbilt -- coming off a big victory over Texas on Thursday -- is the No. 4 overall seed and is joined by Michigan (No. 6), TCU (No. 12) and Maryland (No. 13).
Before Vanderbilt's win over the Longhorns, Texas was projected as one of the top four seeds.
Even though Texas is the No. 5 overall seed, the Longhorns couldn't be in the Sacramento 4 or Fort Worth 3 regionals because of bracketing principles, since two other SEC teams are the top seeds there.
Overall, there are six teams each from the SEC and the Big Ten in this Top 16. Two are from the ACC, one from the Big 12 and one from the Big East. UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas made the Final Four last season.
The second reveal for the women's top 16 will be March 1 at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN.
NCAA tournament selection for 2026 is Sunday, March 15, with First Four games on March 18-19. The first- and second-round games are March 20-23 and will be played at the home sites of the top 16 seeds.
Sweet 16 games are March 27-28 and the Elite Eight games are March 29-30. The women's Final Four will be held at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, with semifinal games on Friday April 3 and the national championship game on Sunday, April 5.
All NCAA women's tournament games are on the ABC/ESPN networks.
