UConn was awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday and enters March Madness needing six more victories to complete the seventh undefeated season in school history.
The Huskies (34-0) are looking for their 13th national title and trying to become the first team to repeat as champion since the program won four in a row from 2013-16. UConn is joined by UCLA, Texas and South Carolina as the other No. 1 seeds.
UConn, which is led by stars Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, opens the tournament at home against 16th-seeded UTSA and will play in the Fort Worth Regional. If seeds hold, the Huskies could face No. 2 Vanderbilt, which is coached by former UConn great Shea Ralph. This is the 23rd time UConn has earned a No. 1 seed and first since 2021.
UCLA (31-1) was just behind the Huskies as the second overall seed in the tournament. The Bruins have won 25 straight games in dominant fashion after its lone loss against Texas on a neutral court.
“The debate was pretty close the whole time between the two teams,” said NCAA selection committee chair Amanda Braun. “Went to a committee vote, watched a lot of UCLA and UConn — the vote went to UConn. The observable component, the way we watched UConn win throughout the year. UCLA did a lot of winning as well. The committee felt the observable component gave UConn the edge.”
UCLA reached the Final Four last year before losing to UConn. Cori Close’s team ran through the Big Ten and has an experienced group led by center Lauren Betts looking to win the school’s first NCAA championship.
The Bruins will try to win the first women’s national championship for the Big Ten Conference since 1999. The Bruins are one of 12 Big Ten teams in the field. That matches the record they set last season for most teams in the tournament. The SEC has 10, the ACC nine and Big 12 eight.
Other tops teams in UCLA’s region are No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Minnesota.
The Longhorns (31-3) earned the third No. 1 seed after winning the SEC Tournament title. They beat South Carolina in two of the three meetings this season. Texas will play in Fort Worth Regional 3. Other top teams in Texas’ region are No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Louisville and No. 4 West Virginia.
The Gamecocks (31-3) are the No. 1 seed in the Sacramento Regional 4 and have been a No. 1 seed for six consecutive seasons. They will be joined by No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 TCU and No, 4 Oklahoma.
The College of Charleston won the Colonial Athletic Association to make the tournament field for the first time in school history. The Cougars are a 14-seed and are the lone first time entry in the field. Last season, there were six newcomers.
BYU, North Dakota State, Utah and Texas A&M were the first four teams left out of the field.
For the second consecutive year, teams in the women’s tournament will be financially compensated, in a similar fashion to the men’s field, for each round they play. “Units” are what the NCAA calls its tally of wins, automatic qualifiers and at-large bids that determine how much conferences are paid. A unit is money paid to conferences when one of its teams appears in the NCAA Tournament.
This year, the NCAA is giving teams that reach the championship game and the one that wins the title extra units. That extra compensation was added to the overall pool and doesn’t decrease the overall value of the units.
The top 16 seeds in the 68-team field will host first- and second-round games, with the regional rounds being played at two neutral sites for the fourth straight year. Fort Worth, Texas, will host half of the Sweet 16 and Sacramento, California, will host the other eight teams.
The Final Four will be played in Phoenix on April 3 and the championship game is two days later.
For the first time the NCAA revealed the 16 host schools a day early. It gave schools an extra day to sell tickets, broadcast partner ESPN a head start to move its equipment to the locations and the NCAA more time to get its marketing materials to sites.
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Consider the spring missions of Cam Cauley completed.
Eyes have been opened.
On Sunday, the Rangers made five cuts from the major league roster, sending Cauley, right-hander Gavin Collyer and infielder Jonah Bride to the minor league camp where they will likely be assigned to Triple-A Round Rock. Right-hander Jose Corniell, who made his first appearance of spring on Saturday, was optioned to Double-A Frisco, while catcher Willie MacIver was optioned to Round Rock.
If there were questions about Cauley, who was left unprotected off the 40-man roster in December’s Rule 5 draft, he seems to have given the Rangers more affirmation about his abilities as a hitter. He batted .289 with an .841 OPS in 41 spring plate appearances. Now, he will be tasked with working on repeating the hitting ability at Triple-A for the first time.
In addition, the Rangers will continue expanding his defensive responsibilities up the middle with significant time in center field, along with shortstop and second base.
“He’s a winning baseball player,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “I think he’s taken his offensive game and profile to the next level. He’s cut his strikeout rate, his walk rate increased. He continues to hit the ball hard, disrupts. He’s a disruptor on the bases. So he showed the ability to be not only a really good utility player, but potentially, one day an every day, big leaguer, the way he’s going about it.
“Now, he’s going to have to play really solid defense to continue his progression at shortstop in center field. I think he’s a middle-of-the-field player. He’s still young and he’s not a finished product. He knows that. Continuing to work on defense is the easiest tool to get better at, because it’s based on work ethic and character. I think he can become at least a major league average hitter. And if he gets really good at defense in multiple positions, now you’re looking at a really valuable piece to have on your team, on a winning team, and not just another guy that comes up.”
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ARLINGTON, Texas — IndyCar officials had to throw a red flag to slow the cars as they were pulling out of the pit area during Saturday’s practice when three workers were spotted on the hot track.
No one was injured.
Practice for the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington resumed after a delay of several minutes as IndyCar officials checked the temporary 2.73-mile, 14-turn circuit on the streets around the stadiums of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers.
The television broadcast showed the trio of workers who appeared to be part of a catering crew. One of them was pushing a catering cart in a spot between AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys’ home, and a nearby hospitality area.
Cars practicing for Sunday’s race hadn’t yet gotten up to speed when the track breach was spotted.
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