WBB Bubble Watch: Dons Take WCC Automatic Bid

A bit of bad news on the women's side, as San Francisco won the West Coast tournament, making the WCC into a two-bid conference (BYU is a solid 6-seed) and pushing the Boilers down one spot. Oddly, Charlie Creme has Iowa as the last team in (they weren't even among the first four out the last time I checked), so three of the last four teams in are Big 14 teams. He also has Iowa as a 12, bumping them down a spot so they can't meet Ohio State in the second round ... Florida State in Tallahassee is probably a better game for the Hawkeyes than OSU in Columbus.

As expected, there's been little other movement, with one-bid conferences crowning champions (Iona, Penn, South Dakota State) and multi-bid conferences wrapping up their tournaments (AAC, Big 12, Big East). If Iowa's inclusion was more of a "whoops, forgot they probably should be in," the Good Gals have little to worry about. If it was more of an adjustment based on resume, then there could still be some problems, because third-to-last in is not safe. 

NCAA Projections

• Maryland: 2 seed, hosting UNC-Asheville and facing Washington/Green Bay winner in second round
  • Last appearance: 2015, 1-seed, lost to 1-seed UConn in Final Four
• Ohio State: 3 seed, hosting Northern Iowa* and facing BYU/James Madison winner in second round
  • Last appearance: 2015, 5-seed, lost at 4-seed North Carolina in second round
• Michigan State: 5 seed, playing Chattanooga in College Station and facing Texas A&M/South Dakota State winner in second round
  • Last appearance: 2014, 5-seed, lost at 4-seed North Carolina in second round. HMM
• Indiana: 10 seed, playing South Florida in Austin and facing Texas in second round
  • Last appearance: 2002, 9-seed, lost to 8-seed TCU in first round
• Purdue: 10 seed, playing Oklahoma State in Corvallis and facing Oregon State in second round
  • Last appearance: 2014, 4-seed, lost at home to 5-seed Oklahoma State in second round

*This was listed as a procedural bump, moving Northern Iowa up to 14 and New Mexico State down to 15. Normally this is to avoid conference matchups prior to the Elite Eight; in this case, it may have been travel-related, with the 2-seed bracket in Los Angeles and the 3-seed bracket in Columbus.

WNIT Projections

• Minnesota (19-11, 11-7) - automatic bid - last appearance 2014 (lost in round of 16)
• Nebraska (18-12, 9-9) - last appearance 2009 (lost in second round)
• Michigan (17-13, 9-9) - last appearance 2015 (lost in Final Four)
• Rutgers (18-14, 8-10) - last appearance 2014 (won WNIT)
• Northwestern (18-16, 4-14) - last appearance 2014 (lost to Indiana in round of 16)