Iowa March Madness Bracketology 2024: Did Caitlin Clark secure a No. 1 seed?

Caitlin Clark's Iowa career is drawing to a close but she's not done summoning miracles. After pounding Penn State and Michigan by a combined 60 points in their first two games of the Big 10 Tournament, Iowa needed overtime to escape Nebraska in the Final, 94-89.

Clark helped the Hawkeyes overcome an 11-point deficit in the second half, coming up with 12 points and four assists in the fourth quarter, including the game-tying layup with 33 seconds remaining. She added six more points in overtime and finished the game with 34 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals.

The Hawkeyes finished behind Ohio State in the Big 10 regular season standings and lost to them back in January. But they avenged that loss with a 10-point win in their regular-season finale. That and their tournament run might have been enough to catapult them ahead of the Buckeyes for Selection Sunday.

Will Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes be a No. 1 seed in March Madness?

South Carolina finished the regular season undefeated and escaped a tough LSU team to win the SEC Tournament. They're the clearly the No. 1 overall seed heading into the tournament.

USC likely locked up another No. 1 seed, finishing the regular season with a 26-5 record in a brutal Pac-12 conference that had four different teams ranked in the top 15 in the last AP Poll. USC won the Pac-12 tournament this weekend, beating both UCLA and Stanford.

That leaves the final two No. 1 seeds up for grabs with Iowa, Texas, Ohio State, UCLA, LSU and Stanford theoretically in the mix.

Iowa has retaken Big 10 supremacy from Ohio State. UCLA lost in the semifinals of the Pac 12 tournament. Stanford and LSU both lost in the finals of their respective tournaments. As winners of their conference tournament, Iowa would appear to have the inside track, along with Texas who has a chance to come out of the Big 12 tournament, needing to beat Kansas State tonight and then the winner of Oklahoma and Iowa State on Tuesday.

If Texas loses in either game, Iowa would be as close as possible to being a lock. Assuming South Carolina, USC and Iowa have sewn up No. 1 seeds, the fourth and final slot would come down to either Texas or, probably, Stanford. For what it's worth, ESPN's latest WBB Bracketology update has South Carolina, USC, Iowa and Stanford as the four No. 1 seeds with Ohio State, UCLA, Texas and LSU as No. 2 seeds.

The full bracket will be revealed Sunday, March 17, at 8:00 p.m. on EST. The Tournament begins on March 22.