Iowa Hawkeyes earn No. 1 seed in Women's NCAA Tournament, Will host first round
The Iowa Hawkeyes have been announced as the No. 1 seed in the Albany 2 region of the 2024 Women's NCAA Tournament. Carver-Hawkeye Arena will host the first two rounds of the Hawkeyes' bracket, which means Caitlin Clark gets at least one more game on her home court.
The Hawkeyes will play the winner of play-in teams Holy Cross and UT-Martin in the first round. The first round of the tournament will take place March 20-21 and will air on ESPN. The winner of No. 9 Alabama and No. 8 Florida State awaits in the second round.
The Hawkeyes had a dominant season, wrapping up their regular season at 26-4 before blitzing through the Big Ten Tournament for the third consecutive season to earn an automatic bid and a top seed in the Big Dance.
Caitlin Clark led the way as one of the nation's best players. Her 31.9 points per game, 5.2 threes per game and 8.9 assists per game all led the country by healthy margins. She shattered too many records to list in the process, most notably the NCAA's all-time scoring record, and is a finalist for every major individual award.
Of course, the one thing not on her resume is a national championship. Last year the Hawkeyes reached the tournament finals as a No. 2 seed but fell to LSU, 102-85. This is Clark's final opportunity to add that important piece to her outstanding career as she will enter the 2024 WNBA Draft after the season.
The Hawkeyes program is looking for its first national championship in its 30th tournament appearance. Iowa is a No. 1 seed for just the third time in program history. The first time in 1988, Iowa reached the Elite Eight before losing to Long Beach State. The Hawkyes were one-and-done the second time in 1992, losing to SW Missouri State 61-60 in overtime.
Iowa has now reached the NCAA Tournament in five straight seasons dating back to 2018. It's the program's 18th appearance under head coach Lisa Bluder.
USC, Standford and South Carolina are the other No. 1 seeds in the tournament.
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