Tournament brackets released: NCAA, WNIT and WBI fields set
To no one’s surprise, UConn (32-0) is the overall No. 1 seed in this season’s 2018 NCAA Tournament bracket. The Huskies, the only undefeated team to enter the tournament, begin play on Saint Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 17 at home against No. 16 Saint Francis University (24-9). The Red Flash have a seemingly insurmountable battle on their hands as they prepare to play UConn in the first round. SFU earned an auto-bid to the Big Dance with a defeat of Robert Morris in the NEC tournament final.
All Four No. 1 seeds:
- Albany Region – UConn (32-0)
- Spokane Region – Notre Dame (29-3)
- Kansas City Region – Mississippi State (32-1)
- Lexington Region – Louisville (32-2)
Notre Dame will play No. 16 CSUN (19-15) on Friday. Mississippi State will face Nicholls State (19-13) on Saturday. Louisville faces Boise State (23-9) on Friday.
Sunday evening the NCAA revealed the last eight teams that were under consideration for inclusion in the bracket. Four of those teams did not make the cut.
Teams that made the cut:
- Buffalo
- Creighton
- Minnesota
- Oklahoma
Teams that did not earn a bid
- Purdue
- Rutgers
- Southern California
- West Virginia
While Rutgers did not get selected for the NCAA tournament, the team did get a bid for the WNIT. However, Monday night, the WNIT announced that the Scarlet Knights declined their invitation to the tournament. As a result, Stephen F. Austin, replaced Rutgers. Previously, SFA had accepted an invitation to the WBI tournament.
Conference Championship Auto Bids
- Maine
- UConn
- Louisville
- FGCU
- George Washington
- DePaul
- Northern Colorado
- Liberty
- Ohio State
- Baylor
- CSUN
- Elon
- Western Kentucky
- Green Bay
- Princeton
- Quinnipiac
- Central Michigan
- North Carolina A&T
- Drake
- Boise State
- Saint Francis U
- Belmont
- Oregon
- American
- South Carolina
- Mercer
- Nicholls State
- Grambling
- South Dakota State
- Little Rock
- Gonzaga
- Seattle U
At-large bids
- Miami
- Duke
- Georgia
- South Florida
- Buffalo
- Florida State
- California
- Virginia
- Notre Dame
- Mississippi State
- Syracuse
- Oklahoma State
- Maryland
- NC State
- Iowa
- Creighton
- UCLA
- Arizona State
- Nebraska
- Texas
- Villanova
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- LSU
- Minnesota
- Marquette
- Dayton
- Missouri
- Stanford
- Oregon State
- Tennessee
- Michigan
The WNIT Field
WNIT play begins March 14 – 16.
Automatic Qualifiers
- Alabama (17-13) – SEC
- Albany (24-7) – America East
- Ball State (24-6) – MAC
- Bethune-Cookman (24-6) – MEAC
- Bucknell (22-9) – Patriot
- Drexel (26-7) – Colonial
- Duquesne (23-7) – Atlantic 10
- ETSU (20-12) – Southern
- Idaho (19-13) – Big Sky
- Indiana (17-14) – Big Ten
- IUPUI (22-9) – Horizon
- Jacksonville (24-8) – Atlantic Sun
- Lamar (22-7) – Southland
- Marist (20-13) – Metro Atlantic
- Missouri State (20-11) – MVC
- New Mexico State (18-12) – WAC
- Penn (21-8) – Ivy
- Radford (23-8) – Big South
- Robert Morris (25-7) – NEC
- St. John’s (16-14) – Big East
- Saint Mary’s (20-10) – West Coast
- South Dakota (26-6) – Summit
- Southern (17-13) – SWAC
- TCU (19-12) – Big 12
- Texas State (23-9) – Sun Belt
- UAB (26-6) – Conference USA
- UC Davis (25-6) – Big West
- UCF (21-10) – American
- UNLV (19-11) – Mountain West
- UT Martin (19-14) – Ohio Valley
- Virginia Tech (18-13) – ACC
At-Large Selections
- Chattanooga (17-12) – Southern
- Cincinnati (19-12) – American
- Colorado State (20-11) – Mountain West
- Delaware (19-12) – Colonial
- Fordham (22-9) – Atlantic 10
- George Mason (23-9) – Atlantic 10
- Georgetown (15-15) – Big East
- Georgia Tech (18-13) – ACC
- Harvard (18-10) – Ivy
- Houston (20-11) – American
- James Madison (21-10) – Colonial
- Kansas State (16-15) – Big 12
- Louisiana Tech (19-11) – CUSA
- Miami (OH) (21-10) – MAC
- Michigan State (17-13) – Big Ten
- MTSU (18-12) – CUSA
- Milwaukee (20-11) – Horizon
- Navy (25-7) – Patriot
- New Mexico (23-10) – Mountain West
- Northern Iowa (19-13) – MVC
- Penn State (16-15) – Big Ten
- Purdue (18-13) – Big Ten
- Toledo (17-14) – MAC
- Rice (22-9) – CUSA
- Rutgers (20-12) – Big Ten
- St. Joseph’s (18-14) – Atlantic 10
- Saint Louis (17-15) – Atlantic 10
- Seton Hall (16-15) – Big East
- Utah (17-13) – Pac-12
- Western Illinois (22-9) – Summit
- West Virginia (21-11) – Big 12
- Wright State (23-10) – Horizon
- Wyoming (21-10) – Mountain West
The WBI
WBI play begins March 14.
Sixteen teams with winning records made the cut for the ninth annual WBI Tournament:
- Nevada (17-16) – Mountain West
- UC Irvine (18-13) – Big West
- CSU Bakersfield (16-12) – WAC
- Fresno State (16-14) – Mountain West
- Texas Southern (19-12) – SWAC
- Weber State (20-10) – Big Sky
- Central Arkansas (22-9) – Southland
- SIUE (17-14) – OVC
- Northeastern (16-14) – CAA
- Yale (15-13) – Ivy League
- Youngstown State (16-15) – Horizon
- Binghamton (19-11) – America East
- UNC Asheville (17-14) – Big South
- Furman (17-13) – Southern
- South Alabama (19-12) – Sun Belt
- Stetson (17-14) – ASUN
