NCAA women’s tournament begins this week. Seeds, opponents for Duke, UNC and NC State
It was a good day for women’s basketball in the ACC, and for teams in the Triangle, in particular.
Duke, UNC and NC State all made the NCAA women’s tournament field of 64 when the brackets were announced Sunday night, with the Blue Devils earning the best seed among local teams.
After reaching the ACC tournament semifinals, the Duke women, ranked No. 13 in the latest AP Top 25, will be a No. 3 seed in Seattle Region 4 and host first- and second-round games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils will face No. 13 Iona in the opening round, and with a win would advance to face the winner of No. 6 Colorado and No. 11 Middle Tennessee.
If Duke were to advance out of its home first-/second-round pod, a trip to Seattle would be next. If seeds held, the Blue Devils would be in line to face regional No. 2 Iowa in Seattle.
UNC — No. 19 in the latest AP Top 25 poll — which defeated Duke twice in ACC regular-season before falling to the Blue Devils in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, will not host a tournament pod this season. The Tar Heels, who were the No. 7 seed in the ACC tournament, drew a No. 6 seed in Seattle Region 3. The Heels will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face Purdue or St. John’s.
N.C. State, winner of three consecutive ACC tournament titles before bowing out this year in the quarterfinals, is still dancing this season, despite a record far from what it has been used to in recent history.
The Wolfpack, 20-11 overall and 9-9 in ACC play, was the eighth ACC women’s team in the field of 64. They drew a No. 7 seed and will face No. 10 Princeton in the first round. A win would set up a matchup against the winner of Utah and Gardner-Webb.
Virginia Tech carried the ACC banner this season, earning a No. 1 seed in Seattle Regional 3.
In all, eight ACC teams — Duke, UNC, NC State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Florida State and Miami made the field.
Non-ACC North Carolina schools in the field include Gardner-Webb, a 15 seed in Greenville Region 2, and ECU, which drew a 13 seed in Seattle Region 4 and will travel to No. 4 Texas.
