Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese Final Four Rematch Can't Happen As Iowa Gets Rough Road

Conventional wisdom from many followers of women's college basketball was that the NCAA Women's Tournament Selection Committee would provide an easier path to the Final Four for Iowa because the country wants to see more of superstar Caitlin Clark.

All you have to do is look at some of the TV ratings of her games to realize that.

But that's not what happened Sunday night during the NCAA Tournament Selection Special. No. 2 ranked Iowa (29-4) and Clark received a No. 1 seed as expected, but the Hawkeyes will have to get by defending national champion No. 3 seed LSU (28-5) or No. 2 seed UCLA (25-6) before it can get to the Final Four in Cleveland (April 5-7).

Caitlin Clark, the leading scorer in NCAA Division I college basketball history in the men's and women's game, leads Iowa into NCAA Tournament. (Getty Images).

"Iowa looks like it may have the toughest road to the Final Four," ESPN analyst Andraya Carter said.

"It doesn't look like it," ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said. "Iowa has the hardest road to the Final Four."

Iowa-South Carolina Rematch Would Be In National Title Game

Iowa upset No. 1 South Carolina, 77-73, in the Final Four semifinals last season before losing the national championship game to LSU, 102-85. LSU star forward Angel Reese taunted Clark over the final seconds of the game and afterward for several more seconds by pointing to her ring finger close to Clark's face.

An Iowa and LSU rematch would take place in a Regional championship game in Albany, New York, on April 1 with the Final Four on the line.  An Iowa-South Carolina rematch would happen in the national championship game on April 7 in Cleveland. If the highest seeds advance, Iowa would play No. 1 seed USC (26-5) in a Final Four semifinal on April 5.

All NCAA Women's Tournament first round games will be on Friday and Saturday with dates and times to be announced.

South Carolina (32-0) received the overall No. 1 seed and will open play at home against the winner of a play-in game between Sacred Heart and Presbyterian for a No. 16 seed. If the highest seeds advance, South Carolina would play No. 1 seed Texas in a Final Four semifinal on April 5. Texas edged out No. 2 seed Stanford (28-5) for the fourth No. 1 seed.

Iowa will open play at home in Iowa City against the winner of a play-in game between Holy Cross and Tennessee-Martin. If it wins there, it will play the winner of No. 8 seed West Virginia and No. 9 seed Princeton.

LSU opens with No. 14 seed Rice in Baton Rouge, and if it wins that it will play the winner of No. 6 seed Louisville and No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee. No. 2 seed UCLA has No. 15 Cal Baptist to open with and would play LSU in the Sweet 16 round if each program goes 2-0.

Dawn Staley's South Carolina Team Is No. 1 Overall Seed For 3rd Straight Year

South Carolina, which won the 2022 national championship, received its third straight No. 1 overall seed and fourth straight No. 1 seed.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley will be looking for revenge against Iowa should the two teams meet in the Final Four, which can only be in the national title game. (Getty Images)

"There's a standard that we play by," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. "The standard is the standard."

South Carolina will be without star 6-foot-7 center Kamila Cardosa for the NCAA Tournament opener as she was the lone player ejected for fighting in the Gamecocks' win over LSU last Sunday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game.

"We talked about it," Staley said. "We don't want that to happen ever again."