Defending NCAA champion Stanford could have a chance to avenge one of its three losses in a path back to the Final Four.
The Pac-12 regular season and tournament winner is the No. 1 seed in the Spokane regional, as was projected before the 68-team NCAA field was announced Sunday.
Big 12 champion Texas is the No. 2 seed in Spokane, potentially setting up a rematch from Nov. 14 when the Longhorns won 61-56 in Palo Alto.
“Whatever bracket you’re in, you’re going to be playing with other great teams,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “That’s just the nature of it. We know how important it is to play well in every game.”
Stanford is home for the first two rounds, opening against No. 16 seed Montana State on Friday. The winner will face No. 8 Kansas or No. 9 Georgia Tech on Sunday.
(Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner was an assistant under VanDerveer on the 1995-96 U.S. Olympic team.)
Other top seeds in Spokane are No. 3 LSU and No. 4 Maryland, with the Terps in the top half of the bracket with Stanford, which won the head-to-head matchup 86-68 on Nov. 27.
The Spokane regional, on March 25-27, is a potential homecoming for Stanford twins Lexie and Lacie Hull, who played there at Central Valley High School.
“The opportunity to play in Spokane in front of friends and family is super special,” Lexie Hull said. “It does feel really fun to play in front of people who love you so much. Hopefully, we’ll just work hard and get to play there.”
No Pac-12 team has repeated as champion since USC in 1983-84.
Arizona, Oregon could face tough second-round games
As expected, half of the Pac-12 qualified for the NCAA field, with 2021 national runner-up Arizona also hosting a sub-regional as a No. 4 seed.
“It’s great to have six teams in,” VanDerveer said. “We need each team to play well. I think all of them have great potential to beat their seed.”
Forward Cate Reese, out since suffering a shoulder injury Feb. 20, will be available for the Wildcats against No. 13 seed UNLV on Saturday. The winner plays either No. 5 North Carolina or No. 12 Stephen F. Austin.
UA forward Lauren Ware talks to assistant coach Salvo Coppa in a February game at McKale Center. The No. 4-seeded Wildcats will host UNLV and North Carolina — assuming no upsets — this weekend in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona is hosting a sub-regional for the first time since 1998 when Adia Barnes, now the Wildcats’ coach, scored 30 points in a second-round win over Virginia.
The Wildcats are in the Greensboro region, meaning a potential matchup with No. 1 overall seed South Carolina awaits in the Sweet 16.
Oregon lost to Utah in the Pac-12 semifinals, a result that cost the Ducks the chance to host a sub-regional. Instead, they are a No. 5 seed playing at Tennessee.
Oregon’s tournament opener is against No. 12 seed Belmont on Saturday, with the No. 4 Lady Vols slotted for the round of 32 if both teams win.
Three teams better their seed projections
Colorado, Utah and Washington State received higher seeds than projected by ESPN.
The Utes, who reached the Pac-12 tournament championship game, and the Buffaloes, a semifinalist, are No. 7 seeds. WSU is a No. 8.
All three will be marginal favorites to reach the second round, where they would face a higher-seeded home team.
Utah, in the NCAAs for the first time since 2011, plays No. 10 seed Arkansas in the first round in Austin, with the winner likely facing Texas.
Colorado travels to Iowa, the Big Ten tournament champion; the Buffs will open against No. 10 Creighton. Those games are part of the Greensboro region.
Washington State is the only Pac-12 team in the Bridgeport regional and will face No. 9 seed Kansas State on Saturday, then potentially No. 1 NC State. (Connecticut, healthy and surging, is the No. 2 seed in the Bridgeport region.)
Colorado is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, while Washington State is making a second consecutive appearance.
“There is really nothing that compares to seeing your name actually pop up,” Buffs coach JR Payne said. “I think the black and gold kind of shook everybody for a second, but we’re really honored and excited for the opportunity.”
UCLA (14-12) and Arizona State (12-14) are two of the three highest-rated teams in the NET rankings to be left out of the NCAA field.
What Pac-12 coaches are earning
At least three Pac-12 coaches are earning more than $1,000,000 in 2022, including VanDerveer, who’s in the rarified $2 million annual salary club.
According to USA Today research, three public university coaches are making more than $2.6 million: Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and LSU’s Kim Mulkey.
VanDerveer also is above $2 million based on a salary report from 2016 that since has escalated.
Stanford and USC are private schools and not required to respond to public records requests.
USC women’s basketball coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, who just complete her first season, is believed to be making in the high six- or low-seven-figure range.
In the USA Today report listing the 2022 salaries for 68 coaches:
Oregon’s Kelly Graves is 10th nationally at $1,025,000; Barnes is 11th ($1,012,000); Oregon State’s Scott Rueck is 15th ($879,452); UCLA’s Cori Close is 24th ($725,000); Arizona State’s now-retired Charli Turner Thorne is 26th ($707,500); and Washington’s Tina Langley is 28th ($650,004).
After that, there is a drop-off to below $500,000 for four other Pac-12 coaches.
