Where Notre Dame Women's Basketball Stands Heading Into Selection Sunday

With selection Sunday fast approaching, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team has just a handful of questions that will be answered when the NCAA women’s basketball field is announced. The Irish don’t have to worry about whether or not they will receive a bid. That’s a given.

Their biggest mysteries going into Sunday night’s bracket unveiling what seed they will be and if they get to host first and second round games. So, let’s take a look at where the Fighting Irish currently stand.

Data Points

Notre Dame has a 25-5 overall record that includes a 15-3 conference mark and the ACC’s regular-season championship. The Fighting Irish are currently No. 8 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.

The NET rankings take into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses. Notre Dame is 8-2 in road games, 4-1 on neutral sites and 13-2 at home.

The Irish have been the ACC’s top team in the NET all season. Virginia Tech is the next best ACC team at No. 9 followed by Duke at No. 10.

The Irish have several head-to-head games against top NET rankings teams. They have wins over No. 2 UConn, No. 9 Virginia Tech, No. 17 NC State, a pair of wins over No. 20 Louisville, and another win over No. 24 Florida State.

Notre Dame’s five losses are to No. 10 Duke, No. 13 Maryland, No. 17 NC State, No. 20 Louisville, and No. 21 North Carolina, meaning they have no “bad” losses this season.

Projections

The most important projections are the ones that have been released by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. The group released top-16 rankings on Feb. 9 and Feb. 23 and Notre Dame was No. 10 in both releases. The No. 10 ranking would make the Fighting Irish a No. 3 Regional seed.

The Feb. 23 rankings reveal that came out before conference tournaments were played had the Irish as the No. 3 seed in “Greenville Regional 2” with Indiana as the No. 1 seed, UConn as the No. 2 seed and Arizona the No. 4 seed in the region.

Conference tournament results are likely to shake the seedings up a bit, though. After winning the Big East Tournament, and maybe more importantly getting star guard Azzi Fudd back from injury, UConn is now likely to be a No. 1 seed, while Indiana, which is now No. 5 in the NET rankings, could be a 2 seed.

Meanwhile, Big Ten Tournament champion Iowa, which beat ranked teams Maryland and Ohio State in the respective tournament semifinals and championship game, was projected as a No. 3 seed two weeks ago but is now a borderline No. 2 seed. Similarly, after winning the ACC Tournament, Virginia Tech is in discussion for a No. 1 seed after higher ranked teams like Indiana, LSU, Stanford, and Utah all lost before reaching their conference championship games.

ESPN’s far from official bracketology projections have South Carolina, Indiana, Stanford, and Virginia Tech as the four No. 1 seeds. They project UConn, Utah, Maryland, and Iowa as the No. 2 seeds, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Duke and LSU as the No. 3 seeds, with the No. 4 seeds going to UCLA, North Carolina, Villanova, and Texas.

Will The Irish Host?

The Fighting Irish were regulars hosting NCAA Tournament early round games during their decade-long run of dominance that saw them reach the Final Four seven times from 2011-2019, but they have not hosted NCAA games since that 2019 season that ended with a national championship runner-up finish.

Covid canceled the 2020 tournament and Notre Dame was the “first team out” of the NCAA field in 2021. They received a bid last year, the first NCAA appearance for a Niele Ivey-led team, but they were sent to Norman, OK as a No. 5 seed for first and second round games.

The Irish won both of those games, including a 108-64 trouncing of host and No. 4 seed Oklahoma, to advance to the Sweet 16. They came an eyelash from going to the Elite 8 before falling 66-63 to No. 1 seed NC State.

The requirement to host first and second round NCAA games is to be a top-4 NCAA Regional seed. So, Notre Dame (as explained above) appears to be in good shape to meet that requirement.

Tournament Dates

The women’s tournament’s field of 68 will be announced this Sunday night, March 12, beginning at 8:00 pm EST.

First four (or play in games) will take place on Wednesday, March 15 and Thursday March 16.

First round games will be played on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18 and second round games will be played on Sunday, March 19 and Monday, March 20.

Teams that win first and second round games advance to the Sweet 16, which will be held in Greenville, SC and Seattle, WA March 24-27. Winners of those games advance to the Elite 8 March 26 and 27 in those same cities. The Final Four will be held in Dallas, TX on March 31, with the national championship game on April 2.

Irish Breakdown Fans be sure to get your Notre Dame tickets from SI Tickets HERE

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @SeanStires
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter