COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio State women’s basketball team will discover on Sunday which seed they will have for the upcoming NCAA tournament but not before another drop in the national rankings.
The Buckeyes (25-5, 16-2) fell to No. 7 in the Associated Press poll after losing to Maryland 82-61 in the Big Ten quarterfinals on Friday as the top-seed in the tournament. It is the second week in a row Ohio State drops in the rankings as they will enter March Madness on a two-game losing streak.
The top-three spots are occupied by three major conference champions who all look locked in to be No. 1 seeds: Undefeated, SEC champions South Carolina, Caitlin Clark and Big Ten champions Iowa, and the last-ever Pac-12 champions USC.
Associated Press Poll (Mar. 11, 2023)
| 1 | South Carolina (35) |
| 2 | Iowa |
| 3 | USC |
| 4 | Stanford |
| 5 | Texas |
| 6 | UCLA |
| 7 | Ohio State |
| 8 | LSU |
| 9 | Notre Dame |
| 10 | UCONN |
| 11 | NC State |
| 12 | Oregon State |
| 13 | Virginia Tech |
| 14 | Gonzaga |
| 15 | Indiana |
| 16 | Kansas State |
| 17 | Oklahoma |
| 18 | Colorado |
| 19 | Baylor |
| 20 | Utah |
| 21 | UNLV |
| 22 | Syrcause |
| 23 | Creighton |
| 24 | Louisville |
| 25 | Fairfield |
Ohio State is projected to receive a No. 2 or No. 3 seed for the NCAA tournament and will discover its opponents and path to the Final Four on Sunday at 8 p.m. The Buckeyes made the regional finals last year where they fell to Virginia Tech and will look to make a third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.
If the Buckeyes receive a top-four seed for the tournament, they will be a host for first and second round matches during the opening week. The first two rounds will take place Mar. 22-25.
The final destination is Cleveland where OSU hopes to be for its first Final Four in over 30 years. The national semifinals at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse will be on April 5 and the national championship game will take place on April 7.
