UCLA is the top overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Bruins were joined by South Carolina, Southern California and Texas as the No. 1 seeds that the NCAA revealed Sunday night.

It’s the first time in school history that the Bruins are the top team in the tournament. They had two losses on the season, both of which came to the Trojans.

Dawn Staley felt her team should get the No. 1 overall seed, but unlike last year when the Gamecocks finished off an undefeated season with a national title, this team has three losses heading into March Madness, including one to the Bruins.

“Two key factors between UCLA and South Carolina. One was the head-to-head matchup,” NCAA selection committee chair Derita Dawkins said. “The other was one of our criteria is competitive in losses and South Carolina suffered a 29-point loss to UConn. Those were the two key differences in those resumes.”

Staley’s team is looking to be the first team to repeat as champion since UConn won four straight from 2013-16. The Huskies, who are a two-seed, are looking to end that drought with star Paige Bueckers. They’ll have to go out west if they reach the Sweet 16 and a potential rematch with JuJu Watkins and the Trojans could be waiting in the Elite Eight.

The path for all won’t be easy: This year there’s more parity in the sport. This NCAA Tournament will be only the second one in the past 19 years to have no teams entering March Madness with zero or one loss. The other time was in 2022.

The Trojans and Bruins, newcomers in the Big Ten this season, will try to win the first national championship for the conference since 1999, when Purdue won the lone one. A record 12 teams from the Big Ten are in the field. The SEC has 10 and the ACC eight. The Big 12 has seven.

The Ivy League received three bids to the tournament for the first time in conference history. Last season, Columbia earned the second at-large bid in league history. The Lions are back again as well as Princeton. Both are 11 seeds and will be competing in play-in games. Harvard, which won the conference tournament, is a 10 seed.

Duke, TCU and N.C. State joined the Huskies on the 2-seed line. Notre Dame boasts wins over Texas, USC and UConn but slumped the last few weeks of the regular season and fell to a three-seed.

William & Mary is one of six teams set to make its first appearance in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The others are Arkansas State, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, Grand Canyon and UC San Diego. Four teams are headed to the men’s tournament for the first time: High Point, Omaha, SIU Edwardsville and UC San Diego.

The Tribe (15-18) are the first sub-.500 team since Incarnate Word in 2022 to make the tournament.

Virginia Tech, James Madison, Saint Joseph’s and Colorado were the first four teams left out of the field.

Payout time

For the first time in NCAA history, there will be a financial incentive for women’s teams. They will finally be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament just like the men have for years.

So-called performance units, which represent revenue, will be given to women’s teams for each win they get. A team that reaches the Final Four could bring its conference roughly $1.26 million over the next three years in financial performance rewards.

This comes a year after the women’s championship game that saw South Carolina beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa do better TV ratings then the men’s title game.

Tournament sites

The top 16 seeds in the 68-team field will host first- and second-round games, with the regional rounds being played at two neutral sites for the third straight year. Spokane, Washington, will host half of the Sweet 16 and Birmingham, Alabama, will host the other eight teams.

The Final Four will be played in Tampa, Florida, on April 4, and the championship game is two days later.

Tournament tidbits

One team that didn’t make the field was Stanford, which ended the Cardinal’s 36-year streak of playing in the NCAA Tournament. It’s the first time since 1987 that Stanford won’t play in the NCAAs. While that streak is over, Tennessee continued its NCAA Tournament run of appearing every year in the field since the first NCAA Tournament in 1982. The Lady Vols are a five-seed.

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.TOKYO (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts will not play in the two-game Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs because of an illness that’s lingered for the past week.

The Cubs and Dodgers open the Major League Baseball season on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome. A second game is on Wednesday.

“He’s not going to play in these two games,” Roberts said. “When you’re dehydrated, that’s what opens a person up to soft tissue injuries. We’re very mindful of that.”

Roberts said Miguel Rojas will start at shortstop in Betts’ place for the two games at the Tokyo Dome.

Betts started suffering from flu-like symptoms at the team’s spring training home in Arizona, the day before the team left for Japan. He still made the long plane trip, but hasn’t recovered as quickly as hoped.

Roberts said if the team had known the illness would linger this long, he wouldn’t have traveled. Betts tried to go through a workout on Sunday, but became tired quickly.

Betts is making the full-time transition to shortstop this season after playing most of his career in right field and second base. The 2018 AL MVP hit .289 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs last season, helping the Dodgers win the World Series.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Before we begin, a disclaimer: Your bracket will probably be a mess by Saturday.

Or by Friday. And let’s be honest, some of us will out of the running by Thursday night.

Welcome back to the world’s largest lottery, the NCAA Tournament and all of its various bracket pools that millions of people will be joining over the next few days. Some will play for fun, some for money. No matter the stakes, we encourage you to remember that you are not an expert — and even the experts didn’t know much this season.

Florida started the year ranked No. 21; the Gators are a No. 1 seed for the tournament. St. John’s was unranked; Rick Pitino’s club is a No. 2 seed. North Carolina was No. 9 in the AP preseason poll; the Tar Heels barely got into the field and left a bunch of analysts angry about it happening.

Before we begin trying to figure out who’ll win this thing, a few policies:

Avoid the No. 5 seeds

Sorry, Oregon, Michigan, Clemson and Memphis. Going back to 1979, when the full field for the NCAA men’s tournament was seeded for the first time. there has never been a No. 5 seed that has won the national championship.

Weirdly, this rule also holds true in the NBA — all the No. 5 seeds there over the years have all fallen short of the title as well.

No double-digit loss teams

Only three teams in tournament history — N.C. State in 1983, Villanova in 1985 and Kansas in 1988 — entered the NCAAs with at least 10 losses and went on to win the title.

So, again, our apologies to Creighton, Texas A&M, St. Francis, Alabama State, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Marquette, Bryant, American, Mount St. Mary’s, Mississippi State, Baylor, Arizona, Vanderbilt, SIU Edwardsville, Georgia, Purdue, Illinois, Kentucky, Troy, UCLA, Wofford, Norfolk State, UConn, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Omaha. History that says you won’t win it all.

A surprise team will make the Final Four

Upsets are going to happen. Hence, the Madness part of March.

If recent form holds, there’s going to be a surprise team — or two, or three even — in the Final Four. There was a No. 11 seed there last year. There were two 5 seeds and a 9 seed there in 2023. An 8 seed the year before that. An 11 seed the year before that.

And it’s not just a recent phenomenon, either. From 2011 through 2018, there were nine instances of teams being a 7 seed or higher making the Final Four — three No. 7 seeds, two No. 11 seeds, two No. 8 seeds, a No. 9 and a No. 10 all headed to the national semifinals in that span.

Thursday and Friday might be bonkers

Everyone knows the 5 vs. 12 games lead to upsets. But those aren’t the only ones.

There were 11 wins by teams seeded No. 9 through No. 12 last year in the round of 64 — with two No. 12s, a No. 13 and a No. 14 among them in 2024.

Remember, there have been nine instances of a No. 15 or a No. 16 seed getting to Round 2 since 2012. It’s not impossible anymore.

But in the end …

Don’t overthink this. The really good teams are really good for a reason. In the last 45 years, 41 eventual champions have been seeded No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3. Will they all get to San Antonio? Probably not. But one or two, at minimum, probably will get there.

To win your pool, you’ve got to hit the upsets. Pool winners are made there. But if you get to the Final Four on your sheet of paper (or more likely, your screen) and see a 9 seed, two 11 seeds and a 14 seed as the last ones standing, perhaps start over.

Round of 64 picks

South: Auburn, Louisville, Michigan, Yale, Ole Miss, Iowa State, New Mexico, Michigan State.

East: Duke, Mississippi State, Liberty, Akron, BYU, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Alabama.

Midwest: Houston, Gonzaga, McNeese, High Point, Illinois, Kentucky, UCLA, Tennessee.

West: Florida, UConn, Memphis, Maryland, Drake, UNC Wilmington, Arkansas, St. John’s.

Round of 32 picks

South: Auburn, Michigan, Iowa State, Michigan State.

East: Duke, Akron, BYU, Alabama.

Midwest: Gonzaga, McNeese, Kentucky, Tennessee.

West: Florida, Maryland, Drake, St. John’s.

Regional semifinal picks

South: Michigan, Michigan State.

East: Duke, Alabama.

Midwest: Gonzaga, Tennessee.

West: Florida, St. John’s.

Regional final picks

South: Dusty May going back to the Final Four in Year 1 at Michigan would be an incredible story, but Michigan State — Tom Izzo in March gets a slight nod.

East: If Cooper Flagg is healthy, Duke should be fine.

Midwest: Mark Few is an absolute legend. Never sleep on the Zags … Gonzaga in an upset.

West: Florida has been as good as anyone all season long. But Rick Pitino, it just feels like his year … St. John’s.

The Final Four

This leaves us with Michigan State vs. St. John’s, Duke vs. Gonzaga.

Michigan State vs. Duke in the final.

We’re all-in on Cooper Flagg being healthy here … Duke wins it all.

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AP March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness