Texas women's basketball team earns No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament for second consecutive season

[Jeff Howe]

The Texas women’s basketball team earned a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive NCAA Tournament. The field of 68 was unveiled on Sunday, with the Longhorns’ road to the Final Four in Tampa going through Birmingham as the top seed in Regional 3 (No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Ohio State round out the top seeds in the region).

Texas (31-3, 15-1 SEC) will begin March Madness on Saturday with a first-round game against the winner of a First Four game between High Point and William & Mary. The Longhorns will then face Illinois, the No. 8 seed in the region, or ninth-seeded Creighton, who round out the four teams heading to the Forty Acres for the opening weekend at Moody Center.

In the program’s sixth NCAA Tournament under coach Vic Schaefer, Texas is one of the favorites to be the last team standing inside Amalie Arena when a national champion is crowned on Sunday, April 6. The Longhorns are joined on the No. 1 line by No. 1 overall seed UCLA (30-2, 16-2 Big Ten), South Carolina (30-3, 15-1 SEC) and USC (28-3, 16-1 Big Ten).

Texas split its two regular-season meetings with the reigning national champion Gamecocks, ending their first season in the SEC with a share of the conference championship. The Longhorns lost a coin flip with South Carolina to be the top seed in the SEC Tournament, which coach Dawn Staley’s team won with a 64-45 victory over the Longhorns in the conference title game last Sunday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.

The 2024-25 SEC Coach of the Year, Schaefer has guided Texas to the Elite Eight in three of his first four seasons. After coaching Mississippi State to consecutive national runner-up finishes in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018 over his eight seasons running the show in Starkville, Schaefer is attempting to lead the Longhorns to their first Final Four since 2003 for an opportunity to win the school’s first national championship since 1986.

Texas is led on the floor by sophomore forward Madison Booker. The SEC Player of the Year, Booker leads the Longhorns in scoring (16.2 points per game) and ranks second on the team in rebounds (6.6 per game), assists (2.8 per game) and steals (1.6 per game).

A Naismith Trophy (national player of the year) semifinalist and a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award (best small forward in Division I), Booker heads into March Madness shooting 45.6 percent from the field, a team-best 43.9 percent from 3-point range and 82.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Booker and senior guard Rori Harmon, an SEC All-Defensive Team selection and a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist, help make Texas one of the top defensive teams in the tournament. The Longhorns allow the fewest points per game in the SEC (55.9 per game) and rank among the nation’s leaders in turnover margin (ninth with plus-7.62 per game), rebounding margin (ninth with plus-9.1 per game) blocked shots per game (14th with 5.2 per game) and turnovers forced per game (18th with 21 per game).

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[cmk4pres]

Who is the #2 in our region? 

[GoHorns1]

3 minutes ago, cmk4pres said:

Who is the #2 in our region? 

TCU

[Jeff Howe]

6 minutes ago, cmk4pres said:

Who is the #2 in our region? 

TCU is the 2, Notre Dame is the 3 and Ohio State is the 4.

[Jarveaux]

Our women basketball 🏀 team & entire coaching staff deserves a round of applause. They have been amazing.🤘

[Jester101]

Seems like a good bracket draw for us Jeff.

[Ace Recruiter]

3 minutes ago, Jester101 said:

Seems like a good bracket draw for us Jeff.

We lost to ND earlier in the year, but besides that I agree with you.

[t.newman]

25 minutes ago, Ace Recruiter said:

We lost to ND earlier in the year, but besides that I agree with you.

We lost to ND playing at South Bend and were tied at the end of regulation, on a neutral court that game might have turned out very differently, 

[Gerry Hamilton]

36 minutes ago, Jester101 said:

Seems like a good bracket draw for us Jeff.

I like any bracket that doesn’t have UConn as the No. 2

TCU makes 9.6 three’s per game … but Texas is a better/deeper team … not a talent neutralized scenario 

ND is very tough due to their two guards and playing zone can be tough for Texas if they don’t shoot the 22 footers well enough 

But Texas will be the favorites

[GQ03]

8 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

I like any bracket that doesn’t have UConn as the No. 2

TCU makes 9.6 three’s per game … but Texas is a better/deeper team … not a talent neutralized scenario 

ND is very tough due to their two guards and playing zone can be tough for Texas if they don’t shoot the 22 footers well enough 

But Texas will be the favorites

TCU also beat ND earlier this year.

[SuperDave0805]

All depends on shooting, If they can hit outside shots they are the best team in the country

[horns96]

1 hour ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

TCU makes 9.6 three’s per game … but Texas is a better/deeper team … not a talent neutralized scenario 

But Texas will be the favorites

@Gerry Hamilton what does that mean? You throw it around like everyone should understand that "scenario"?

[Gerry Hamilton]

7 hours ago, horns96 said:

@Gerry Hamilton what does that mean? You throw it around like everyone should understand that "scenario"?

I use that term when one team plays another that has close to or equal talent.

In a Texas vs TCU matchup ... I don't see TCU as that team. They can shoot it for sure, but Texas is a more talented team. 

Talent neutralized teams for Texas in the tournament:
SoCar
UConn
USC
UCLA

Maybe Notre Dame

NC State is close

TCU behind them. 

[Thorn007]

Tcu has Ms van lith