The Joe Bracket (Women)

In a lot of ways, filling out the women's bracket is a lot easier than filling out the men's.  I mean, seriously, how hard is it to give UConn the No. 1 overall seed and go from there?  This year's other three No. 1 seeds seemed to be pretty clear, too, as South Carolina, Notre Dame and Baylor definitely separated themselves from the field.  But figuring out the order of them (basically who has to play UConn in the semis), as well as which No. 2 will get put in the East and have virtually no shot at the Final Four requires a little bit more finagling.

This is definitely UConn's tournament to lose.  They've won 107 straight games and four straight National Championships for a reason.  But unless those numbers get to 113 and five, they'll consider their season a disappointment.  (By the way, if Geno Auriemma is NOT the National Coach of the Year, it will be an absolute travesty.)  They really do have a different set of standards at UConn than they do everywhere else.

If anybody is going to beat UConn, look to the other three No. 1 seeds.  Although, they've already beaten all three of them this season, while also winning at Maryland and Florida State.  Maryland, by the way, I think will be the 2-seed that gets stuck with UConn.

As for the rank order of the other three 1-seeds, I think South Carolina is the second-best team in the country.  I'm not the only one who thinks that.  They're widely-considered to be the best team other than UConn.  So there's no chance they get the No. 4 overall.  They don't play UConn until the National Championship Game.  That is assuming they beat Notre Dame first.

Which leaves us with Baylor.  As the No. 4 overall seed, they get stuck with the semi against UConn.  And they also get shipped out west.  There's a couple reasons for that.  First of all, they're the furthest west of the four 1-seeds.  And, since they're the lowest-ranked of the four, South Carolina and Notre Dame both get choice of region, which gives Oklahoma City to one of them instead.  Not only will Baylor have to travel, they're probably going to get a Pac-12 team (likely Stanford) as the 2-seed.

That's where the home games for the top 16 overall seeds are so huge.  Baylor won't have to travel the first weekend.  (UConn doesn't even have to leave the State of Connecticut.)  But if they do get through the Regional, they'll have the advantage of knowing the Final Four is in Dallas.

Anyway, with all that out of the way, we move on to the bracket.  Since I'm shipping Baylor out west, that makes the Final Four matchups Bridgeport vs. Stockton and Lexington vs. Oklahoma City.

BRIDGEPORT
Storrs: (16) Robert Morris at (1) Connecticut, (8) Dayton vs. (9) Iowa State
Chicago: (13) Western Illinois at (4) DePaul, (5) NC State vs. (12) Central Arkansas
Durham: (14) Penn at (3) Duke, (6) Missouri vs. (11) Elon
College Park: (15) Albany at (2) Maryland, (7) Tennessee vs. (10) Oregon

STOCKTON
Waco: (16) Hampton at (1) Baylor, (8) Temple vs. (9) Creighton
Columbus: (13) Bucknell at (4) Ohio State, (5) Miami vs. (12) Toledo
Tallahassee: (14) Quinnipiac at (3) Florida State, (6) West Virginia vs. (11) Belmont
Palo Alto: (15) Long Beach State at (2) Stanford, (7) Texas A&M vs. (10) Drake

LEXINGTON
Columbia: (16) UNC Asheville at (1) South Carolina, (8) South Florida vs. (9) Green Bay
Louisville: (13) New Mexico State at (4) Louisville, (5) UCLA vs. (12) Western Kentucky
Lexington: (14) Chattanooga at (3) Kentucky, (6) Syracuse vs. (11) Indiana
Corvallis: (15) Texas Southern at (2) Oregon State, (7) Kansas State vs. (10) LSU

OKLAHOMA CITY
Notre Dame: (16) Troy at (1) Notre Dame, (8) Marquette vs. (9) Michigan State
Seattle: (13) Montana State at (4) Washington, (5) Oklahoma vs. (12) Gonzaga
Austin: (14) Boise State at (3) Texas, (6) Purdue vs. (11) Virginia
Starkville: (15) Florida Gulf Coast at (2) Mississippi State, (7) Arizona State vs. (10) Michigan

Conference Breakdown: ACC (8), SEC (7), Big 12 (6), Big Ten (6), Pac-12 (6), American (3), Big East (3)