#1 Seeds Who Actually Win

It appears that the selection committee for the women’s NCAA basketball tournament pretty much got it right.

If everyone plays as the committee expected and up to their ranking, you would expect that all four number one seeds to make it to the Final Four. But that virtually never happens. If the men’s tournament this year is any indication (where #2 seeded UCLA, #3 seeded Florida, #4 seeded LSU and #11 seeded George Mason have made it to the Final Four), being #1 doesn’t guarantee you a Final Four berth.

But that was not the case this year for the women.

Three of the #1 seeds in the women’s tournament have made the Final Four. Duke, LSU, and North Carolina have all prevailed in their four previous match-ups to reach the Final Four games in Boston. Ohio State was the only #1 seed not to make the Final Four. Instead, rounding out the Final Four, is #2 seeded Maryland.

There was a lot of speculation about who should and should not have received #1 seeds when the brackets were announced. The teams that have made it to the Final Four show that the women’s selection committee were almost right on target, more so than the men’s committee.

And my pick to win it all: