Women's basketball bracketology: Clemson, Virginia rising off bubble

Mitchell Northam, USA TODAYWed, February 25, 2026 at 1:29 PM UTC

0

After losing at South Carolina on Sunday to finish a grueling stretch where Ole Miss lost three of four games in a seven-day span, Coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin hoped her team wouldn’t get penalized by pollsters and bracketologists.

“I hadn’t seen any other team get punished after losing to South Carolina, so hopefully we don’t, and that’s for who needs to hear it, you know? … So if we move, I’m going to be shocked,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Obviously, the next two games are very important to us. I don’t think we can afford to drop those.”

While Coach Yo made a compelling case for the Rebels to project as a top 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the numbers simply disagree with her.

In USA Today Sports’ latest bracketology, Ole Miss is projected to be the 19th overall seed, firmly on the five-line.

Now, Coach Yo is right in one regard: The Rebels’ next two games are important. They can’t afford to lose to teams like Florida and Texas A&M who are not projected to be in the field of 68. And despite her complaints about the SEC Tournament, Ole Miss likely needs to win a game or two in Greenville, South Carolina, next week to bolster their chances of securing a top 16 seed for the first time since 1992.

“I do believe that we can make a run in March,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I’m not gonna let my team sit around and sulk. … You know, anybody who counts us out can’t count.”

Here’s USA Today Sports’ projection of the entire field of the NCAA Women's Tournament as of Wednesday, Feb. 25:

Fort Worth 1

Storrs, Connecticut

1 UConn

16 Farleigh Dickinson / Howard

8 Oregon

9 Illinois

East Lansing, Michigan

5 Ole Miss

12 Gonzaga

4 Michigan State

13 Miami Ohio

Louisville, Kentucky

6 Texas Tech

11 Syracuse / Mississippi State

3 Louisville

14 Green Bay

Iowa City, Iowa

7 Tennessee

10 Virginia

2 Iowa

15 Idaho

Sacramento 2

Los Angeles, California

1 UCLA

16 Cal Baptist

8 Iowa State

9 Princeton

Lexington, Kentucky

Advertisement

5 Minnesota

12 Troy

4 Kentucky

13 Louisiana Tech

Durham, North Carolina

6 Baylor

11 Columbia

3 Duke

14 Vermont

Nashville, Tennessee

7 NC State

10 Fairfield

2 Vanderbilt

15 High Point

Fort Worth 3

Columbia, South Carolina

1 South Carolina

16 Alabama A&M / Chattanooga

8 Washington

9 Villanova

College Park, Maryland

5 West Virginia

12 Richmond / Virginia Tech

4 Maryland

13 UC Irvine

Norman, Oklahoma

6 USC

11 Rhode Island

3 Oklahoma

14 Western Illinois

Ann Arbor, Michigan

7 Georgia

10 Clemson

2 Michigan

15 Navy

Sacramento 4

Austin, Texas

1 Texas

16 Eastern Kentucky

8 Nebraska

9 Oklahoma State

Columbus, Ohio

5 North Carolina

12 San Diego State

4 Ohio State

13 Murray State

Fort Worth, Texas

6 Alabama

11 Rice

3 TCU

14 McNeese

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

7 Notre Dame

10 North Dakota State

2 LSU

15 Charleston

Bubble Watch -

Last Four Byes: Villanova, Princeton, Virginia, Clemson

Last Four In: Syracuse, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Richmond

First Four Out: Colorado, Arizona State, South Dakota State, Stanford

Next Four Out: Utah, Kansas, Cal, James Madison

Clemson and Virginia each of them notched signature Quad 1 wins on Sunday. The Cavaliers went into Louisville and hung on to a two-point victory thanks to Romi Levy’s 3-pointer with 13 seconds left. Hannah Kohn sank a 3-pointer with three seconds left to give Clemson the edge over Duke, snapping the Blue Devils’ 17-game win streak.

Virginia now has two Quad 1 wins and Clemson has three. In Shawn Poppie’s second season with the Tigers, they’ve reached double-digit wins in ACC play for the first time since the 2000-01 season. That’s also the last time the Tigers defeated both NC State and Duke in the same season.

There are a few other bubble teams who could use marquee wins, but the opportunities are waning. Arizona State has a chance to get one on Sunday when it travels to Texas Tech. That would go down as the Sun Devils’ first Quad 1 victory of the season.

Both Arizona State and Colorado will likely need multiple victories in the Big 12 Tournament to improve their resumes.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clemson, Virginia rising off bubble in women's basketball bracketology

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”