Autumn Johnson | March 1, 2022 Bracketology: NCAA women's tournament projections made the first day of March 2022 NCAA tournament women's bracket predictions on the first day of March Share The Madness is brewing as teams enter conference tournaments in hopes of an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament and of course, bragging rights against conference foes. This my fifth prediction of the season. I've included my automatic qualifiers and at-large bids. I took into consideration what we've seen so far and the DI women's basketball selection committee's third and final Top 16 reveal. Here's my bracket: Autumn Johnson's fifth 2022 NCAA women's basketball tournament bracket prediction SEED GREENSBORO Spokane Bridgeport Wichita 1 South Carolina Stanford NC State Louisville 16 Fairleigh Dickinson / Howard Jackson State Houston Baptist / Campbell Maine 8 Kansas Creighton FGCU Kansas State 9 South Florida Washington State Colorado Arkansas 5 North Carolina Notre Dame BYU Ohio State 12 DePaul IUPUI South Dakota State Southern Illinois 4 Oklahoma Indiana Tennessee Iowa 13 Toledo Drexel Stephen F. Austin Belmont 6 Oregon Virginia Tech Florida Georgia 11 Kentucky/ Northwestern Dayton Missouri State / Miami Boston College 3 UConn Texas Maryland Arizona 14 UNLV Charlotte Troy Hawaii 7 Georgia Tech Ole Miss Nebraska UCF 10 Princeton South Dakota Utah Gonzaga 2 Michigan LSU Iowa State Baylor 15 Fairfield Mercer Holy Cross Idaho State The Big Ten makes a strong appearance The Big Ten's presence went from two teams to four in the top four seed lines. In the third reveal, the selection committee debuted Iowa and Maryland in its top 16 rankings. Rightfully so. The Hawkeyes used a late surge by taking down Indiana and Michigan in conference play to earn a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. In the first and second reveal, only Indiana and Michigan were featured amongst the top four lines. Maryland made its debut as a three seed. I had Maryland as a No. 1 in my preseason bracket. But adversities plagued this team early for three long months. Since then, Maryland turned it around as of late January, picking up Quad 1 wins over Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio State and Indiana. Despite Michigan's loss to Iowa, the Wolverines remain a two seed, as of right now. Currently, Michigan has a NET ranking of 14, with a 7-2 record over ranked opponents. The Wolverines still have a chance to prove themselves as a solid two seed in the Big Ten tournament. Indiana remaining in the top 16 reveal shocked many people, considering the Hoosiers lost four of their last five games. Indiana lost its lead scorer and rebounder Mackenzie Holmes due to injury, but have brought her back into the lineup. However, it's going to take some time for Holmes to get acclimated into this system to become the Elite Eight squad they are known to be. If Indiana wants to remain in the top 16 conversation, it needs to create momentum in the Big Ten tournament. Last four in Kentucky vs. Northwestern Missouri State vs. Miami First four out Florida State Villanova Rhode Island Mississippi State The automatic qualifiers Here are the 32 AQs I think will lock in spots by winning their conference tournament. Conference Automatic qualifier America East Maine American Athletic UCF Atlantic 10 Dayton ACC NC State ASUN Florida Gulf Coast Big 12 Baylor Big East UConn Big Sky Idaho State Big South Campbell Big Ten Ohio State Big West Hawaii Colonial Athletic Association Drexel Conference USA Charlotte Horizon IUPUI Ivy Princeton MAAC Fairfield MAC Toledo MEAC Howard Missouri Valley Southern Illinois Mountain West UNLV Northeast Fairleigh Dickinson Ohio Valley Belmont Pac-12 Stanford Patriot Holy Cross SEC South Carolina Southern Mercer Southland Houston Baptist SWAC Jackson State Summit League South Dakota Sun Belt Troy West Coast BYU Western Athletic Conference Stephen F. Austin 2022 March Madness South Carolina beats UConn for 2022 title | Tournament results | Full bracket BRACKET TRACKER: How every perfect bracket busted STORE: Official South Carolina championship gear| Latest college basketball gear Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer announces retirement after Hall of Fame coaching career Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer announces her retirement after a Hall of Fame career, leaving the game with 1,055 wins and countless lives improved through leadership, mentorship and guidance. READ MORE The colleges (and conferences) with the most players taken in the 2022 WNBA draft Thirty-six new players were drafted into the WNBA in 2022, including 34 from NCAA Division I programs. The most came from the ACC and SEC. READ MORE College basketball teams with the most WNBA 1st-round draft picks Connecticut leads all women's college basketball programs with 25 players taken in the first round of the WNBA draft. READ MORE