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The madness is just getting started.
The selection committee has officially revealed the women’s basketball bracket, and the number one seeds are pretty straightforward: UConn, Baylor, Notre Dame and South Carolina.
As expected, the UConn Huskies are the number one overall seed in the Bridgeport Region, but their seeding is not the craziest thing to be happening in Bridgeport.
The most shocking thing is far and away Maryland’s seeding.
It’s not shocking in the sense that I am blindsided by the committee’s choice. The selection committee had Maryland slotted as a three seed when they released their bracket preview earlier in the season. It’s obvious that they were being overlooked for a higher seed because of their strength of schedule.
What is shocking is that they still placed them as a three seed given their recent accomplishments.
Maryland still won 30 games this season. They also won their conference in the regular season and their conference tournament. And behind seniors Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, the Terps have more than enough star power, and a Naismith Award semifinalist in the case of Jones. They also have one of the best young point guards in the country in the form of freshman Destiny Slocum.
Given their conference championships, this is why I was partially surprised by their placement in the bracket. But I think the complication also goes far beyond the Terps locker room.
The choice also becomes surprising in terms of UConn. Maryland, along with Florida State, gave UConn their closest games of the season. Connecticut won in College Park, 87-81 back in late December, but that game without a doubt shows what the Terps are capable of.
It is interesting in that regard that the committee would choose to put them in the Bridgeport Region with Connecticut. In theory, it makes UConn’s path to the Final Four harder.
One day, UConn’s unfathomable win streak will come to an end; and knowing the Maryland program, they are no doubt thinking why can’t we be the ones to end it.