NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket preview: Where do NC State, Duke, UNC stand?
Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State are projected to host first-round games in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, according to the first selection committee preview released Sunday afternoon.
N.C. State leads the Triangle as the No. 8 overall seed, with Duke and UNC landing at the No. 10 and No. 11 seeds, respectively.
Based on the first bracket, the Wolfpack would be a No. 2 seed in the Birmingham 2 Regional, which features No. 2 overall seed South Carolina, No. 9 seed TCU and Oklahoma. It has already played the Gamecocks and Horned Frogs this season.
Duke would be the No. 3 seed in the Spokane 1 Regional, which features No. 1 overall seed UCLA, No. 6 overall seed LSU and No. 16 seed Tennessee.
North Carolina was listed as the No. 3 seed in the Birmingham 3 Regional. Its bracket features No. 3 overall seed Texas, No. 7 overall seed Connecticut and No. 14 overall seed Ohio State.
Last season, N.C. State was the only team to host the first weekend. Duke played at Ohio State, while UNC was placed in South Carolina’s regional. N.C. State and Duke advanced to the regional round, both in Portland.
N.C. State was No. 10 in the most recent Associated Press poll, while UNC and Duke were listed at No. 12 and No. 13, respectively.
The selection committee releases the official bracket at 8 p.m. on March 16.
March Madness begins with First Four games on March 19-20, with the first round set for March 21-22 at host campuses.
Regional games take place March 28-31 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington.
The Final Four, scheduled for April 4 and 6, will take place at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Projected Top 16 seeds
| Seed | Team | Regional |
| No. 1 | UCLA (1) | Spokane 1 |
| No. 2 | South Carolina (1) | Birmingham 2 |
| No. 3 | Texas (1) | Birmingham 3 |
| No. 4 | Notre Dame (1) | Spokane 4 |
| No. 5 | Southern Cal (2) | Spokane 4 |
| No. 6 | LSU (2) | Spokane 1 |
| No. 7 | UConn (2) | Birmingham 3 |
| No. 8 | N.C. State (2) | Birmingham 2 |
| No. 9 | TCU (3) | Birmingham 2 |
| No. 10 | Duke (3) | Spokane 1 |
| No. 11 | North Carolina (3) | Birmingham 3 |
| No. 12 | Kansas State (3) | Spokane 4 |
| No. 13 | Kentucky (4) | Spokane 4 |
| No. 14 | Ohio State (4) | Birmingham 3 |
| No. 15 | Oklahoma (4) | Birmingham 2 |
| No. 16 | Tennessee (4) | Spokane 1 |
