2022 NCAA Women’s Tournament: Reranking remaining teams in Sweet 16

With just 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Women’s Tournament, we’re re-ranking to figure out which squads should be considered the favorites.

Folks, we’ve got a Sweet 16 field, and it’s not what you expect. A pair of No. 2 seeds are out. A third, UConn, likely would have lost to UCF on Monday if the Knights had just made their free throws.

With 16 teams remaining, let’s re-rank those teams. Which is the best remaining team? Which is the worst? Why?

Power-ranking the remaining teams in the NCAA Women’s Tournament

1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. NC State
4. Louisville

The No. 1 seeds remain the No. 1 seeds. And South Carolina, despite scoring just 49 in the win over Miami, remains the No. 1 of the No. 1 seeds, even after Stanford crushed Kansas 91-65.

Why? Because the Gamecocks defense held Miami to 33 points. And because the Gamecocks still have that non-conference win over Stanford from December, plus a win over NC State. No reason to move them down just because the offense struggled to get going in one game.

NC State slots in over Louisville for similar reasons: a head-to-head victory and some impressive defense, as it held Kansas State to 57 points in the second round.

5. Texas
6. UConn

These are our remaining two seeds, and I’ve got an upset for y’all, as Texas is above UConn in these rerankings. The Huskies just scraped by UCF in the second round, while Texas had a resounding win over Utah. To put it simply, I trust the Texas defense more than I trust the UConn offense right now, and I’m feeling more confident that Texas could make a run to the Final Four than I am about UConn, even though I had UConn in the Final Four in my bracket.

7. Michigan
8. Iowa State
9. Indiana

Here are the remaining three seeds, and the end of these re-rankings relying on the original seed lines for these teams.

This is the toughest part of these rankings. All these teams have shown some nice flashes in the tournament but have holes.

Michigan has been the best. The Wolverines beat American 74-39 then beat Villanova 64-49. Still, it’s hard to know if we should trust this team when they start to face better defenses, as they did rank 98th in scoring defense this season.

Iowa State almost lost to a 14-seed, but as someone who watched a ton of UT Arlington this year, I can say that the Mavs are better than your average 14 seed. And the Cyclones redeemed themselves one round later by beating Georgia 67-44. Ashley Joens is playing her WNBA draft stock up right now.

Indiana just barely got by 11-seed Princeton, winning 56-55. The Hoosiers are like Michigan in that their defense concerns me, but more concerning is that the team went from blowing teams out early in the year to playing much closer games as the season wore on. That includes a three-game losing in February.

10. North Carolina

It’s a real shame that the Tarheels have to play South Carolina, because after beating an extremely good SFA team 79-66 in the first round, UNC went out and dominated Arizona 63-45. Despite being a five-seed, UNC proved it’s one of the 10 best teams remaining in the win over the Wildcats. Even with Deja Kelly struggling from the floor, UNC still found a way to win big.

11. Maryland

Nothing against the Terps, though. UNC impressed me more in the last round, but Maryland’s 89-65 win over FGCU was also a big one. The trio of Diamond Miller, Ashley Owusu and Angel Reese all scored 20-plus points in the victory. This team can probably hang with anyone from an offensive perspective, but there is the whole “ranked 198th in defensive rating per Her Hoop Stats” issue.

12. Notre Dame
13. Tennessee
14. Ohio State

Let’s group these three teams together in the “good but not great” category.

Notre Dame almost earned a higher spot after it decimated Oklahoma 108-64. The Sooners were a four seed! And the Irish did…that. Dara Mabrey scored 29. Olivia Miles had 12 assists. Maya Dodson was 8-for-11. Notre Dame is peaking at the right time, but Oklahoma is also a team with some defensive holes. Will this last against NC State?

Tennessee has some nice pieces on both ends, but only beat Belmont by three in the second round. It’s also hard to forget that the Lady Vols lost four of their final six games before the NCAA tournament. Something’s been off with this team.

Ohio State snuck past Missouri State in the first round, then locked down LSU in the second round. I think that’s impressive, but maybe less so than it appears on paper, as LSU was the weakest of the three seeds. Still, the Buckeyes ranked sixth in the country in scoring offense, though were 210th in scoring defense. Will they be able to push the pace against Texas?

15. South Dakota
16. Creighton

South Dakota’s defense swarmed Baylor in the second round. Creighton had the size to slow down Iowa. Both have put on an impressive display in making it this far, but it’s hard to justify ranking the two 10 seeds higher than this. Both match up well with the teams they play in the next round though, so don’t be too shocked if one of these teams gets another upset victory.

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