For the first time in the school鈥檚 history, N.C. State is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women鈥檚 basketball tournament.
The two-time defending champs of the ACC, the Wolfpack were joined on the one-line in the 64-team bracket by the UConn Huskies, the Stanford Cardinal and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The tournament field was unveiled Monday night on ESPN.
鈥淭hey erupted. They were pretty fired up about it,鈥� Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore said of his team鈥檚 reaction to getting a top seed. 鈥淚t's something that's great for your program. It's great for our players to be recognized in that way. And they did beat two No. 1 teams in the country on the road. So, they did a lot of things to earn to earn that opportunity.
鈥淏ut again, you throw all that out now and you got to go play basketball.鈥�
N.C. State will begin play in the tournament 鈥� which will take place in its entirety in and around San Antonio, Texas 鈥� on March 21. The Wolfpack鈥檚 first opponent is 16-seed North Carolina A&T.
鈥淥bviously, they've done a great job for a long time,鈥� Moore said of A&T, the MEAC champs. 鈥淭hey've been very consistent. And, you know, they're going to press you some, they're going to get after you and make you earn everything you get鈥� I know there'll be fired up about playing another in-state school. They know how to win, so we better we better be ready to play.鈥�
The Wolfpack and Aggies are two of the five teams from North Carolina in the tournament field. High Point, the champs of the Big South conference, also garnered a No. 16 seed and will face the Associated Press鈥� top-ranked team, UConn, in its first game. This marks High Point鈥檚 first appearance in the tournament at the Division I level.
Another team that ended its long drought from appearing in the tournament was Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons drew a No. 9 seed and will take on No. 8 Oklahoma State in the first round. It鈥檚 the first tournament appearance for the Deacs since 1988, when head coach Jen Hoover was a player on the team.
鈥淭his is a huge, huge step for this program,鈥� said Hoover, who is in her ninth season coaching at her alma mater. 鈥淵ou know, these kids and the players that have come before, just to have the ability now to hang another hang a banner in that in that Coliseum, that has gotten that monkey off our back, if you will. Now it's no longer the longest drought from the NCAA Tournament. We're in. No one can take that from us.鈥�
Senior point guard Gina Conti added: 鈥淚 definitely I came to Wake because I wanted to help be a part of a team that makes it to the NCAA tournament. And to do it in my fourth year here, that's something that's super exciting.鈥�
The North Carolina Tar Heels are also back in the tournament. Overall, it鈥檚 their 28th appearance in the field, but the first under second-year head coach Courtney Banghart. She led Princeton to the tournament eight times in her 12 seasons in the Ivy League.
As one of the selection committee鈥檚 last four teams in, the Tar Heels were given a No. 10 seed and will face No. 7 Alabama in the first round. Before the pandemic forced teams to alter their schedules this past season, UNC and Alabama were set to play in a regular season non-conference game. Additionally, UNC assistant coach Adrian Walters coached at Alabama last season. It鈥檚 a first-round match-up with plenty of wrinkles to it.
鈥淲hen I first got here, obviously my goal was to not only to be in March, but to win a lot in March. But I didn't know how quickly that would happen, because we were going to build it in a way that was long standing,鈥� Banghart said. 鈥淵ou know, coming from our tradition like Carolina, you don't get in because of your tradition, right? Just ask Notre Dame. You have to earn it year after year after year. And this group earned it and (we鈥檙e) really, really excited to be in it.鈥�
In all, N.C. State, Wake Forest and UNC were three of the eight ACC teams that got into the NCAA tournament, which is the most teams for any single conference this year. Louisville, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Florida State were the other ACC teams that got at-large bids. For the first time since 1995, Notre Dame missed the tournament.
First round games in the tournament will take place March 21-24. The national championship game is set for April 4 in San Antonio.
