The final two entrants into the NCAA women’s basketball tournament 64-team field will be determined Thursday, Mar. 21. The winner of a No. 11-seed matchup between Auburn and Arizona (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2) will face No. 6-seed Syracuse in the first round, while No. 1-seed Iowa awaits the victor of the No. 16-seed contest between UT Martin and Holy Cross (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
Auburn, Arizona bring big-time upset cred
Auburn and Arizona are two programs in a similar spot, albeit from different perspectives.
After a magical run to the national championship game in 2021, the Wildcats have yet to find their groove in the post-Aari McDonald era. This season, Arizona slid to seventh in Pac-12 standings, finishing 8-10 in conference play. Auburn also ended the regular season seventh in their conference standings. Yet, that’s the highest the Tigers have ascended in the SEC ranks since 2018-19, the last time that Auburn earned a bid to the Big Dance. After going 5-11 in SEC play last season, the Tigers improved to 8-8 this season.
Both teams also have big-win credibility. Auburn defeated LSU, the defending national champs and a No. 3 seed in this year’s tournament, in mid-January, while Arizona stunned Stanford, a No. 2 seed, in Palo Alto in February. The Wildcats also took USC,…
 before No. 16 seeds UT Martin and Holy Cross meet (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2).){kind=link}