How Lady Vols writer Cora Hall voted in the AP Top 25: The final ballot vs. NCAA bracket
Another basketball season has come to a close and my final two ballots weren't that far off from the NCAA selection committee's seeding revealed Sunday – take that as you will.
Most of those teams were set before Selection Sunday. There was only a little bit of movement this week in my ballot after the last conference tournaments wrapped up.
The majority of conference tournaments last weekend shook up the rankings. Six of the top 10 teams lost in conference tournaments, and teams notching those upsets rose in the rankings. Iowa State capped the chaos on Sunday by upsetting both Oklahoma and Texas to win the Big 12 tournament.
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The only difference between my ballot and the top 16 of the NCAA Tournament draw is Virginia Tech. The committee made them a No. 1 seed after winning the ACC Tournament, which is fair, but I believe Iowa – a No. 2 seed – deserved it more. My top four in order are: South Carolina, Indiana, Iowa and Stanford.
The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten Tournament after beating regular-season champion Indiana in the last game of the season. They more than proved they deserve a No. 1 seed, but I can see how the committee landed with the Hokies.
The next four on my ballot are Virginia Tech, Maryland, UConn and Utah (all No. 2 seeds except Virginia Tech). For what it's worth, I thought UConn had a small case for a No. 1 seed when you look at overall body of work. The Huskies played a challenging nonconference and played shorthanded when they took unranked losses in Big East play. With Azzi Fudd back, it feels like UConn got its mojo back a bit and it will be interesting to see how it performs.
My next four are Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU and Duke (all No. 3 seeds). The Buckeyes were already recovering from their midseason slump and pulled off a massive upset over Indiana in the Big Ten semifinals to reach the title game. Ohio State wasn't going to stop Iowa, but it got a signature win to prove it's still capable of making some noise in March.
LSU dropped to No. 11 after losing to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals. That's not a bad loss by any means, but it was one of three quality games LSU has played this season against the Lady Vols and South Carolina. It has lost two of those three games, so the Tigers' overall body of work is not deserving of a top-10 ranking.
The last four of my top 16 are Villanova, Tennessee, UCLA and Washington State (all No. 4 seeds except Washington State). The Lady Vols jumped to No. 14 last week after upsetting LSU. Coming back from a 17-point deficit against Kim Mulkey's Tigers was no small feat and it was a signal that Tennessee is finally reaching its potential – the potential that made people pick them as a Final Four favorite in preseason.
UCLA and Washington State moved up in the rankings after their runs to the Pac-12 title game. The Bruins were in desperate need of a quality win and they got it by upsetting Stanford in the semifinals. Washington State upset everybody on its way to winning the Pac-12 title, collecting ranked wins like infinity stones. The Cougars took down Utah, Colorado and UCLA in one weekend.
Oklahoma and Texas both moved after the Big 12 tournament. The Sooners dropped to No. 20 after getting upset and Texas moved up to No. 18 after making a run to the title game. The committee made Texas a No. 4 seed, which makes sense given the Longhorns' consistently high NET this season.
Cora Hall's AP Top 25 ballot for Week 18
South Carolina
Indiana
Iowa
Stanford
Virginia Tech
Maryland
UConn
Utah
Ohio State
Notre Dame
LSU
Duke
Villanova
Tennessee
UCLA
Washington State
Iowa State
Texas
Colorado
Oklahoma
Gonzaga
Ole Miss
Michigan
UNLV
Florida State
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Lady Vols writer Cora Hall's AP Top 25 ballot compared to NCAA bracket
