The Creighton Bluejays did it. So did the South Dakota Coyotes. The 11th-seeded Princeton Tigers and 12-seed Belmont Bruins came oh-so-close. And a wild two days of second-round play in the 2022 NCAA women’s basketball tournament ultimately gave us two double-digit seeds in the Sweet 16. All the craziness necessitates major changes to the seeding.
The biggest change comes right at the top. The South Carolina Gamecocks, who have been No. 1 all season, are no longer leading the way. With their two blowout victories, the Stanford Cardinal are the new No. 1 overall. That is just the beginning of the shake-up. When a No. 10 seed has been one of the most impressive teams in the tournament, big changes are coming, and South Dakota makes a big jump.
The Coyotes eliminated an SEC and Big 12 team, and each of those leagues have just two teams remaining in the field, the same number as the Big East. The Big Ten, which was rated the fifth-best conference in the country according to the NET, has four teams into the Sweet 16. The ACC, No. 4 on that list, has three.
And about that home-court advantage: Of the top-16 seeds hosting first- and second-round games, five failed to advance to the Sweet 16, and three more — the Indiana Hoosiers, Tennessee Lady Volunteers and UConn Huskies — barely survived.
Now where do all these teams fall? Here is a brand new Sweet 16 ranking after two more days of games.
Follow this link for a complete look at Friday’s schedule and Saturday’s games, which are all on the ESPN family of networks. Visit this link to check your Women’s Tournament Challenge bracket.
1. Stanford Cardinal
Original seed: No. 1
Sweet 16 seed: No. 1
2022 tournament record: Defeated No. 16 Montana State 78-37; defeated Kansas 91-65
The first round was about Francesca Belibi’s…
Source : espn
