Winners (Villanova) and losers (LSU) of the NCAA women’s basketball committee’s top-16 reveal

Kim Mulkey should’ve scheduled less cupcakes in non-conference play.

At halftime of the Stanford versus Arizona game on Thursday night, we got our first glimpse into how teams might be seeded in this year’s NCAA Tournament for women’s college basketball.

The NCAA’s Division I Women’s Basketball Committee does this twice a year. It’s sort of like those weekly College Football Playoff reveal shows, and it gives us an idea of how the committee might seed teams come March. While bracketology projections and power rankings are fun to debate, this reveal gives folks real insight into what the committee thinks.

In women’s basketball, being a top 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament is crucial, because those teams get to host first and second round games at their home venues, giving the higher seed a coveted homecourt advantage.

The committee’s second reveal will be on Feb. 23, during halftime of the South Carolina versus Tennessee game. And the full and final bracket will be unveiled on March 12 – an unofficial holiday, better known as Selection Sunday.

Speaking of the Gamecocks, let’s get into the winners and losers of the first reveal.