Ten teams have entered the NCAA tournament unbeaten; only five have emerged victorious. UConn and coach Geno Auriemma have done it three times, including last season.
Tennessee, Stanford and Nebraska earned the other No. 1 seeds.
Stanford, the last team to beat Connecticut, earned its first No. 1 seed since 1998. Tennessee earned its record 20th No. 1 seed a year after getting bounced from the tournament in the first round. And Nebraska earned its first No. 1 seed in school history after winning its first 30 games this season. The Cornhuskers lost their only game of the season in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
The Huskies (33-0), too, have run through their opponents this season, winning by an average of 35 points. In search of its seventh national championship, UConn is looking to become the fifth team to win consecutive titles. Tennessee last did it in 2007 and 2008.
Awaiting the Huskies in the second round could be former assistant Tonya Cardoza and the Temple Owls. They face James Madison in the first round.
Other first-round games in the Dayton region are: No. 5 Virginia vs. No. 12 Green Bay; No. 4 Iowa State vs. No. 13 Lehigh; No. 6 St. John’s vs. No. 11 Princeton; No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 14 Louisiana Tech; No. 7 Mississippi State vs. No. 10 Middle Tennessee; and No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 St. Francis (Pa.).
While other teams look to make history in the tournament, the Lady Vols had enough of that last year. Tennessee, a No. 5 seed last season, lost in the first round to Ball State, marking the first time in the program’s history that the team didn’t advance out of the opening weekend.
Tennessee opens at home against Austin Peay.