BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball team was projected pretty far down the initial list by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee as they released their first of two postseason projections on Thursday evening.

The defending national champions were projected as the fourteenth overall seed and a four seed in Albany Regional in the first of two top-16 early projections that will come before the season ends.

As expected, South Carolina was projected as the top overall seed, with Stanford, Ohio State and Colorado as the rest of the top four and therefore No. 1 seeds in their regionals.

“The only obvious choice in this first reveal was South Carolina as the top overall seed, with the other 15 seeding decisions being a significant challenge,” said Lisa Peterson, senior associate commissioner of the Pac-12 Conference and chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. “The race is on for teams to provide clarity over the next 32 days before Selection Sunday with a lot of big games upcoming for all of the teams involved.”

LSU has a 1-2 record against teams currently projected in the top 16 seeds having lost to Colorado and South Carolina and beating Virginia Tech.

Thursday’s top-16 reveal was the first of two that will be provided by the committee during the 2023-24 regular season. The other will take place on Thursday, February 29 at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

The top-16 teams announced during both reveals have no bearing on the final 68-team field for the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Show on Sunday, March 17 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

First- and second-round games will take place March 22-24 on the campuses of the top-16 seeds. Regional play in Albany, N.Y. (MVP Arena) and Portland (Moda Center) will take place March 29-April 1, with each site hosting two regional semifinal games March 29 and two March 30. In addition, each site will host a regional championship game March 31 and one on April 1. The 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four will be played April 5 and 7 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee – February 15 – Top 16 Ranking*

1. South Carolina
2. Stanford
3. Ohio State
4. Colorado
5. Iowa
6. NC State
7. UCLA
8. Texas
9. Southern California
10. Virginia Tech
11. Oregon State
12. UConn
13. Kansas State
14. LSU
15. Indiana
16. Louisville

REGIONAL ASSIGNMENTS

Albany Regional 1:  

1. South Carolina
2. UCLA
3. UConn
4. Louisville

 Portland Regional 2:

1. Stanford
2. Texas
3. Oregon State
4. Indiana 

Albany Regional 3:

1. Ohio State
2. NC State
3. Southern California
4. LSU

 Portland Regional 4:

1. Colorado
2. Iowa
3. Virginia Tech
4. Kansas State 

*Rankings and regional assignments based on games played through Wednesday, February 14.