Will No. 3 NC State be a top seed in the NCAA women’s tournament? Why some say no.
It might not make N.C. State fans feel any better, but ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme doesn’t feel great about the Wolfpack possibly being a No. 2 seed instead of a No. 1 in the upcoming NCAA women’s tournament.
“This is a situation that keeps me up at night,” Creme said on a conference call with the media last week. “It’s like that (hands fingers close together) if at all.”
Creme’s lack of rest over N.C. State’s seeding situation more than likely won’t change things for the Wolfpack (20-2) when the NCAA tournament brackets are released Monday at 7 p.m. At the first reveal N.C. State was predicted as a No. 2 seed. That was consistent through the end of the regular season. The top four seeds are predicted to be UConn, Stanford, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
Fresh off a second straight ACC tournament title, the Wolfpack is ranked No. 3 in the country, ahead of Texas A&M (23-2) and South Carolina (22-4). The Gamecocks won the SEC tournament title, while the Aggies were upset in the semifinal round.
N.C. State went to Columbia, S.C. on Dec. 3 and knocked off South Carolina when the Gamecocks were the No. 1 team in the country. It was the first of two road wins over a No. 1 team in the country for N.C. State this season. The Wolfpack defeated Louisville on the road on Feb. 1. N.C. State went 2-0 versus the Cardinals after a 58-56 win in the ACC tournament title game.
Two road wins over top teams, plus a conference tournament title - something the Aggies don’t have - but are still staring down a No. 2 seed when the field is announced today.
Why?
“I think the difference is to why I still have them as No. 5 overall is the committee kind of gave us a little bit of a hint in the reveals of how they view the depth of quality wins,” Creme said. “And South Carolina, the team in question that would supplant, has a lot more.”
These things hurt the Wolfpack
The Gamecocks have eight wins over teams ranked in the top 25. N.C. State has three, two of those were over Louisville. The Aggies have nine, including two wins over top 10 teams, South Carolina and Kentucky. The Wolfpack’s two losses this season were to teams that will be in the NCAA tournament — Virginia Tech and UNC. N.C. State avenged both of those losses and defeated Georgia Tech, another tournament team, twice, including in the ACC tournament semifinals. But the rest of the Wolfpack’s resume, plus a COVID-19 pause that caused them to miss games, hurt.
“They had less of an opportunity and there’s more opportunity in the SEC than the ACC, slightly more, to win top 25 type games and even top 50 top games, than N.C. State,” Creme said. “So that’s kind of why I’m viewing it like that. If I was czar for the 2021 season and they let me pick the bracket, I might have N.C. State as the fourth No. 1 to be honest, but this is me trying to read the tea leaves of what the committee has already given us, just a very little bit, and that’s why I have N.C. State as still as two.”
The last two times the Pack played in the NCAA tournament, head coach Wes Moore led the team to the Sweet Sixteen. Coming off another tournament title, Moore didn’t seem too concerned about seeding.
“To me at the end of the day if you do -- if you’re able somehow to get through your bracket and get to that point, it’s just a matter of you’re going to wear dark uniforms and we’re going to wear white,” Moore said. “So it’s nothing we can control. On one hand, you got an argument, (we) knocked off two No. 1s on their home court. On the other hand, we lost a couple of games, you know, stuff we can control.”
First-round NCAA tournament play starts on March 21-22. The Final Four is set to start on April 2. If things stay the same and the Wolfpack is a No. 2 seed, Moore is fine with those expectations.
“I don’t mind flying under the radar,” Moore said. “At NC State it seems like we kind of do that, so I’m fine with it.”
How to watch women’s selection show
When: 7 p.m., Monday
Watch: ESPN
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
