To no one’s surprise, undefeated Connecticut earned the No. 1 overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament when the field was announced Monday night.
The three-time defending champions would not have to leave their home state to reach the Final Four.
The Huskies (32-0) face Robert Morris in their opener Saturday, and if they win, they would meet either Seton Hall or Duquesne on Monday, with both games at Storrs, Conn. The regional semifinals and final will be held in Bridgeport, Conn.
Baylor (33-1) earned the No. 1 seed in the Dallas region. Notre Dame (31-1) tops the Lexington, Ky., region, and South Carolina (31-1) leads the Sioux Falls, S.D., region.
The Final Four is scheduled for April 3 and April 5 in Indianapolis, where Connecticut hopes to become the first women’s team to capture four consecutive titles. Tennessee won three in a row from 1996-98, while Connecticut posted “three-peats” from 2002-04 and again the past three years.
Huskies coach Geno Auriemma is also gunning for an 11th national crown, which would break the tie he currently has with legendary UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden for the NCAA basketball record.
The Bridgeport and Dallas region champs will meet in the semifinals to earn a showdown with the winner of the Lexington and Sioux Falls regions.
Joining the Huskies as the top teams in the Bridgeport region are No. 2 Texas, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 Michigan State.
Baylor’s competition in the Dallas region includes No. 2 Oregon State, No. 3 Louisville and No. 4 Texas A&M.
No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Kentucky and No. 4 Stanford join Notre Dame in the Lexington region.
South Carolina is accompanied by No. 2 Arizona State, No. 3 Ohio State or No. 4 Syracuse in the Sioux Falls region.
Albany (27-4), which beat the University of Maine in the America East final 59-58 on Saturday, gained a No. 12 seed and will play a first-round game against No. 5 Florida (22-8) in Syracuse at noon Friday. No. 4 Syracuse (25-7) will take on No. 13 Army (29-2) in the other first-round game and the winners will meet Saturday before advancing to the regional site in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
It was the highest placement ever into the NCAA Tournament for Albany.
Albany’s previous record in seeding was last season when the Great Danes were a No. 13 seed, narrowly falling to No. 4 Duke 54-52 in Durham.
It is the highest seed for any America East team since 2010.
It is Albany’s fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and third time the Great Danes will play an opponent in the postseason at a neutral site.
“We are excited that we are playing a good team, but not on their home floor,” Albany coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said in a news release. “We are also extremely happy that some of our fans can travel to Syracuse and watch us play.”
It will be the first ever meeting between Albany and Florida.
“We are happy that we earned a better seed than last year, and the goal is to earn a victory,” said Albany senior forward Shereesha Richards, the three-time America East Player of the Year.