Despite losing Thursday for the first time this season, UCLA is the No. 1 overall seed in the first top-16 reveal ahead of the 2025 NCAA women's basketball tournament.
South Carolina, Texas and Notre Dame are the other No. 1 seeds.
The top 16 teams, determined by the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee, were unveiled Sunday on ESPN, giving a glimpse of what the official bracket might look like on Selection Sunday on March 16.
The SEC was strongly represented throughout the list, with two No. 1 seeds and six teams among the top 16, which get to host first- and second-round NCAA tournament games.
"We were pretty certain as a group that we had the right four on the 1-line," NCAA women's basketball selection committee chair Derita Dawkins told The Associated Press.
USC, LSU, UConn and NC State are the No. 2 seeds; TCU, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas State are the 3-seeds; and Kentucky, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Tennessee were slotted as No. 4 seeds.
Notre Dame received the No. 4 overall seed behind Texas despite beating the Longhorns 80-70 in overtime on Dec. 5.
Twelve of the top 16 seeds were in action Sunday, including three head-to-head matchups: UConn at South Carolina, NC State at North Carolina and LSU at Texas.
For the third consecutive season, the regionals of the women's tournament will be played at two sites instead of four, with games in Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington.
A second top-16 reveal will take place Feb. 27 (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
