NCAA tournament begins this week. Seeds, opponents for NC State and UNC women’s hoops
N.C. State will begin its quest for a Final Four berth inside the friendly confines of Reynolds Coliseum, and for the second straight year will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
The Wolfpack (29-3), winner of the ACC regular-season and tournament titles, is the top seed in the Bridgeport region, and on Saturday, N.C. State will take on the winner of Longwood (21-11) and Mt. Saint Mary’s, who will meet in the play-in game.
N.C. State will host the first two rounds in Reynolds Coliseum. The Pack is 16-2 all-time in NCAA tournament games played in Raleigh. The Wolfpack most recently hosted two games in Reynolds in 2019 as the No. 3 seed.
The Pack defeated Miami, 60-47, on Sunday to win a third straight ACC Tournament. N.C. State has advanced to three consecutive Sweet Sixteens.
South Carolina (29-2) is the No. 1 overall seed. Stanford (28-3) and Louisville (25-4) are the other No. 1 seeds.
Wolfpack’s region peek
Nobody said it would be easy, but the Bridgeport Region is flat out brutal.
The Wolfpack can’t look ahead to No. 2 seed UConn, which will basically be playing a home game if they make it to the regional finals.
Also in the bracket is Notre Dame, which defeated N.C. State, 69-66, on Feb. 1; SEC Tournament champion Kentucky; and Indiana, which the Pack beat 66-58 in December.
The Hooisers, the No. 3 team in the region, eliminated N.C. State in the Sweet 16 last season. The Wildcats are on a 10-game winning streak, including an upset over South Carolina in the conference title game.
If the Pack wins its first game, it’ll face either Washington State or Kansas State on Monday. N.C. State defeated the Cougars and Wildcats by a combined 49 points eight days apart in November.
Heels placed in Greensboro Region
The North Carolina Tar Heels (23-6) are the No. 5 seed in the Tucson Region and will face No. 12 Stephen F. Austin on Saturday in Tucson, Arizona.
The Bruins (22-7) are the automatic qualifiers out of the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Tar Heels lost in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and 2021.
North Carolina’s path to the Final Four is equally tough. If the Heels get past Stephen F. Austin in round one, they’ll face Arizona or UNLV in round two. The Wildcats made it to the national title game a year ago, falling to Stanford.
Georgia, Iowa and, oh yeah, overall No. 1 seed, South Carolina, also loom in the Greensboro bracket.
A welcome sight in the Greensboro field for North Carolina is Miami. The Tar Heels defeated the Hurricanes, 85-38, on Feb. 6. Miami got hot late and advanced to the ACC Tournament title game.
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 8:15 PM with the headline "NCAA tournament begins this week. Seeds, opponents for NC State and UNC women’s hoops."
