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UConn, Marquette Headed To The NCAA Tournament

BIG EAST champion Huskies are No. 1 seed in the River Walk Region; Golden Eagles receive at-large bid and are the No. 10 seed in River Walk.

2021 NCAA Tournament Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS – Two BIG EAST teams are headed to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as the 64-team bracket was unveiled during Monday night’s Selection Show. BIG EAST champion UConn is the No. 1 seed in the River Walk Region and was joined by at-large selection Marquette, the No. 10 seed in the River Walk. The Huskies will face 16th-seeded High Point on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, while the Golden Eagles will face seventh-seeded Virginia Tech, also on Sunday, at noon on ESPNU.  
 
The Huskies (24-1, 18-0 BIG EAST) will compete in their 32nd-straight NCAA Tournament, dating back to 1989. UConn has advanced to the last 12 Final Fours. The Huskies enter NCAA play as a No. 1 seed for the 22nd time in program history. The Huskies are 99-11 all-time as a No. 1 seed. Head coach Geno Auriemma has led UConn to all 117 NCAA Tournament wins and is the winningest head coach in postseason play. UConn won the BIG EAST’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament championship last week and claimed the league’s regular-season title with a perfect 18-0 mark.
 
Marquette (19-6, 14-4) is making its 13th appearance in the NCAA tournament and fourth in a row since the 2016-17 season. The Golden Eagles are 6-12 all-time in the NCAA tournament, winning one game in four of their last five appearances in the big dance. The program has made the Round of 32 six times but has never made it to the Sweet 16. Marquette finished runner-up in the BIG EAST both in the regular season and in the conference tournament.
 
DePaul was listed No. 2 among the First Four Out, giving the Blue Demons the opportunity to participate in the NCAA Tournament should two teams from multi-bid conferences not be able to compete in San Antonio. Houston was listed as the No. 1 team among the First Four Out and would be the first replacement should a team selected not be able to participate. The deadline for consideration of replacing a team unable to participate due to COVID-19 is Tuesday, March 16, at 6 p.m. ET. No replacement teams will be introduced into the NCAA championship bracket after the deadline. Once the tournament has begun, no team will replace a team that has a COVID-19 issue and can no longer participate in the championship. Its opponent would advance to the next round via the no-contest rule.