Back in November, we discussed how conference realignment and the Pac-12’s fall could lead to conferences like the Big Ten and SEC dominating this year’s NCAA Women’s Tournament selection process.
So far, that’s been exactly the case. With just under two months until Selection Sunday, the Big Ten has 12 teams in the projected field, with the SEC (10) and ACC (nine) not far behind.
This puts multiple conferences in position to break the record for most teams from a single conference in the NCAA Tournament. That mark currently stands at nine, by both the 2011 Big East and 2016 SEC.
At the moment, 34 of the 37 at-large bids are going to just four conferences (Big Ten, ACC, SEC and Big 12). The Big East (three) and Ivy League (two) are the only other conferences with multiple teams in the field.
This trend is true at the top, as well. The SEC is holding six of the top-16 overall seeds in these projections, with the Big Ten (four), ACC (three) and Big 12 (two) each snagging multiple hosting spots as well.
The other major change to this year’s Bracketology is the selection committee’s adoption of the Quadrant System used by the men’s committee since the 2017-18 season.
Instead of NET top-25, top-50 and…
