Unless there is some major upset in a conference tournament -- and, actually, maybe even if that does happen -- the top four seeds appear firmly in place for March Madness.
The NCAA women's basketball committee revealed its current top 10 Monday for the third and final time this month. Once again, nothing is different about the content of that list; it's been the same 10 teams since Feb. 1. What has changed, though, is the order of Nos. 5-10.
The top four -- UConn, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Baylor -- have been the same for all three rankings. The Gamecocks' loss to UConn on Feb. 8 prompted a change in the minds of most Associated Press voters, who swapped South Carolina and Notre Dame. But the poll has no impact on the selection committee, whose members clearly don't agree.
What could change that? If South Carolina loses in the SEC tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, especially before the final, and Notre Dame wins the ACC tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. Both teams are the respective defending champion of their conference tournaments.
Could No. 4 Baylor fall out if its spot as one of the overall No. 1 seeds and possibly end up swapping with No. 5 Texas? The committee released its list before Monday's Texas-Baylor game, and those teams could meet again in the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City.
The biggest drop from the previous rankings was Ohio State, which lost to Minnesota and then in triple-overtime to Michigan State last week. The Buckeyes went from No. 5 when the list was released Feb. 15, to No. 9 now.
That meant Pac-12 regular-season co-champions Oregon State and Arizona State and Big Ten champion Maryland each moved up a spot from last time to Nos. 6, 7 and 8.
Rounding out the list is UCLA, which has been No. 10 all three times. The Pac-12, which has its conference tournament in Seattle, has three teams in the top 10 and another, Stanford, that received consideration.
The only other team listed as being considered for the top 10 was Louisville of the ACC.
All teams listed start their conference tournaments this week: American, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
The 2016 tournament bracket will be unveiled on Monday, March 14, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The tournament gets underway at the campus sites of the top 16 teams on March 18 and 19. The regional rounds will be March 25-28 in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Lexington, Kentucky; Dallas; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Women's Final Four is April 3-5 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.