The NCAA on Saturday projected UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Vanderbilt as the No. 1 seeds for the women’s basketball tournament in its first early reveal of the top 16 teams.

Along with the rankings, the committee also outlined the projected regional placements. This year’s regional rounds will take place in Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, California, continuing the two-regional format introduced in 2023, where each site produces two Final Four qualifiers.

Defending champion UConn, the overall No. 1 seed, is slated for the Fort Worth 1 regional alongside LSU (No. 8), Ohio State (No. 9) and Oklahoma (No. 16). The Huskies remain undefeated and are chasing both their seventh perfect season and a 13th national title.

In the Sacramento 2 regional, UCLA (No. 2 overall) is joined by Texas (No. 5), Duke (No. 10) and Ole Miss (No. 15).

The Fort Worth 3 regional is headed by South Carolina (No. 3 overall) with Louisville (No. 7), Iowa (No. 11) and Michigan State (No. 14).

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt leads the Sacramento 4 regional after its recent win over Texas, accompanied by Michigan (No. 6), TCU (No. 12) and Maryland (No. 13). Texas dropped to the No. 5 overall seed and could not be placed in certain brackets due to conference placement rules involving other SEC teams.

Overall, the SEC and Big Ten each placed six teams in the top 16, while the ACC had two representatives and the Big 12 and Big East each had one. UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas all reached last season’s Final Four.

The committee will release its second top-16 preview on March 1, with Selection Sunday scheduled for March 15. Early-round games begin March 18, and the Women’s Final Four will be held in Phoenix, with semifinals on April 3 and the championship game on April 5.