Washington players celebrate a bucket against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half of an NCAA women’s college basketball game at Alaska Airlines Arena on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Seattle. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)
Washington players celebrate a bucket against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half of an NCAA women’s college basketball game at Alaska Airlines Arena on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Seattle. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)
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By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
The Washington women’s basketball team is hosting a Selection Show viewing party for fans at Alaska Airlines Arena to watch alongside the Huskies when the NCAA tournament bracket is revealed.
Doors open at 4 p.m. and the show starts at 5 p.m.
Unlike the past two years when Washington was a bubble team — UW snagged a ‘First Four’ spot last year and missed the Big Dance in 2024 — the Huskies are a shoo-in to land a favorable seed in the 68-team tournament.
Washington (21-10) has its most wins since the 2016-17 season and finished eighth in the Big Ten, which is projected to send as many as 12 teams to the NCAA tournament.
The Huskies rose to No. 20 in The Associated Press rankings in December and were ranked for 11 of the 17 weeks before dropping out of the poll last month.
More importantly, Washington is No. 25 in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) while comprising a 6-7 record in Quad 1 games and its strength of schedule ranks 26th nationally.
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The 12-member Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, which is led by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee athletic director Amanda Braun, chooses 37 at-large teams to join 31 automatic qualifiers.
The committee also builds the 68-team bracket, which begins Wednesday and Thursday with two ‘First Four’ games and ends April 5 with the national championship game in Phoenix.
On Saturday, the NCAA revealed the top 16 seeds who will host games in the first and second rounds. In alphabetical order the teams include: Duke, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, TCU, Texas, UCLA, UConn, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.
Here’s a look at where Washington is seeded and its pairing in a handful of NCAA tournament projections:
Charlie Crème, ESPN: No. 7 seed versus No. 10 seed Colorado in Baton Rouge, La.
Megan Gauer, HerHoopsStats.com: No. 7 seed versus No. 10 Rhode Island in Baton Rouge, La.
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Connor Groel, CBSSports.con: No. 6 seed versus No. 11 seed Virginia/BYU in Louisville, Ky.
Autumn Johnson, Big Ten Network: No. 7 seed versus No. 10 Clemson in Baton Rouge, La.
Mitchell Northam, USA Today: No. 6 seed versus No. 11 seed Virginia/Colorado in Fort Worth, Texas.
In its last outing, Washington lost 78-60 to Big Ten tournament champion UCLA in the quarterfinals on March 6 after knocking off USC 76-64 the previous day in the second round.
Last year, the No. 11 seed Huskies fell 63-60 to No. 11 seed Columbia in a First Four NCAA tournament game at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.
Washington players celebrate a bucket against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half of an NCAA women’s college basketball game at Alaska Airlines Arena on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Seattle. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)
Skip Ad
By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
The Washington women’s basketball team is hosting a Selection Show viewing party for fans at Alaska Airlines Arena to watch alongside the Huskies when the NCAA tournament bracket is revealed.
Doors open at 4 p.m. and the show starts at 5 p.m.
Unlike the past two years when Washington was a bubble team — UW snagged a ‘First Four’ spot last year and missed the Big Dance in 2024 — the Huskies are a shoo-in to land a favorable seed in the 68-team tournament.
Washington (21-10) has its most wins since the 2016-17 season and finished eighth in the Big Ten, which is projected to send as many as 12 teams to the NCAA tournament.
The Huskies rose to No. 20 in The Associated Press rankings in December and were ranked for 11 of the 17 weeks before dropping out of the poll last month.
More importantly, Washington is No. 25 in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) while comprising a 6-7 record in Quad 1 games and its strength of schedule ranks 26th nationally.
Advertising
Skip Ad
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The 12-member Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, which is led by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee athletic director Amanda Braun, chooses 37 at-large teams to join 31 automatic qualifiers.
The committee also builds the 68-team bracket, which begins Wednesday and Thursday with two ‘First Four’ games and ends April 5 with the national championship game in Phoenix.
On Saturday, the NCAA revealed the top 16 seeds who will host games in the first and second rounds. In alphabetical order the teams include: Duke, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, TCU, Texas, UCLA, UConn, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.
Here’s a look at where Washington is seeded and its pairing in a handful of NCAA tournament projections:
Charlie Crème, ESPN: No. 7 seed versus No. 10 seed Colorado in Baton Rouge, La.
Megan Gauer, HerHoopsStats.com: No. 7 seed versus No. 10 Rhode Island in Baton Rouge, La.
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Connor Groel, CBSSports.con: No. 6 seed versus No. 11 seed Virginia/BYU in Louisville, Ky.
Autumn Johnson, Big Ten Network: No. 7 seed versus No. 10 Clemson in Baton Rouge, La.
Mitchell Northam, USA Today: No. 6 seed versus No. 11 seed Virginia/Colorado in Fort Worth, Texas.
In its last outing, Washington lost 78-60 to Big Ten tournament champion UCLA in the quarterfinals on March 6 after knocking off USC 76-64 the previous day in the second round.
Last year, the No. 11 seed Huskies fell 63-60 to No. 11 seed Columbia in a First Four NCAA tournament game at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.