NCAA tournament 2025: USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb feels 'disrespected' by selection as 4th No. 1 seed in same bracket as UConn

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Lindsay Gottlieb is not pleased with USC's draw in the NCAA tournament. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
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It appears that USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb is not stoked about seeing UConn on the other side of her team's bracket.

The Trojans earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women's tournament bracket that was revealed on Sunday. But to Gottlieb, this placement as the tournament's fourth No. 1 seed was disrespectful. She let her feelings be known with reporters shortly after the bracket reveal.

Lindsay Gottlieb was not happy with USC being the 4th overall No. 1 seed.

“I never thought I’d be a 1 seed and feel disrespected,” Gottlieb said.

“Sometimes I don’t understand the people who make decisions in women’s college basketball and why they do what they do.” pic.twitter.com/hErcL8Dzw3

— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) March 17, 2025

"I never thought I'd be a one seed and feel disrespected," Gottlieb said. "But I thought there would be very little chance we would be the No. 4 overall No. 1.

"We've got a big game here on Saturday against UNCG. We'll handle it accordingly. But you tell me if you think that bracket that we got should've been the one that it was."

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Did USC really get snubbed as a No. 1 seed?​

The other No. 1 seeds include top overall seed and USC rival UCLA that lost two regular-season games to the Trojans before beating them in the Big Ten championship game. South Carolina and Texas are the other No. 1 seeds.

The latest AP poll has USC ranked as the No. 4 team in the nation behind UCLA, South Carolina and UConn, commensurate with its placement as the tournament's fourth No. 1 seed.

The advanced analytic NET rankings have USC's placement as a No. 1 seed of any kind as generous. Per the NET rankings, USC is the sixth-best team in the country behind UConn, South Carolina, Texas, UCLA and Notre Dame.

Is this really about UConn?​

The real issue here appears to be that UConn is under-seeded — and, for Gottlieb, that it's the No. 2 seed in USC's bracket.

Almost every metric but the selection committee's thinks that UConn is worthy of a No. 1 seed. The betting market agrees. UConn (+275) opened Sunday night with the second-shortest odds to win the NCAA championship, just a smidge behind favorite South Carolina (+270). Geno Auriemma's Huskies are once again a force to be reckoned with.

Gottlieb may not be excited about a potential matchup with UConn before the Final Four. But fans anticipating a marquee matchup of JuJu Watkins vs. Paige Bueckers are in for a potential treat.

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