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USC Coach Lindsay Gottlieb Makes Case That No. 1 Seed USC Was ‘Disrespected'

Stephen Douglas

Lindsay Gottlieb was not happy with USC’s No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Lindsay Gottlieb was not happy with USC’s No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
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The USC Trojans earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women's basketball tournament after going 28-3 this season. The Trojans finished the season as the No. 4 ranked team in women's college basketball after dropping the Big Ten championship game to rival UCLA

You might have thought USC would be happy with their seeding, but apparently not. USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb was visibly agitated when she addressed the media on Sunday saying she felt disrespected that the Trojans were the fourth No. 1 seed.

"For me, I never thought I'd be a one-seed and feel disrespected, but I feel the committee, I just thought there would be very little chance we would be the number four overall number one," said Gottlieb. "And so you know we've got a big game here on Saturday against UNCG and we'll handle it accordingly, but you tell me if you think that bracket that we got should've been the one that it was. I can't think for the players, I think they're excited to play, but this was not on my bingo card to be a little bit, you know, frustrated after being a one-seed and it's not an arrogance of kind. I think there's a lot of good teams and you've gotta play the first game in front of you and earn your way form there and that's what we'll do, but sometimes I don't understand people who make decisions in women's basketball and why they do what they do and certainly with this committee I would love to ask some questions."

Considering UCLA just beat USC a week ago, it would have been hard for the committee to move USC ahead of them, so obviously Gottlieb's real problem is with UConn or South Carolina, who both just won their conference tournaments and haven't lost a game in the last month.

Complaining about seeding and regions is one thing, but to feel disrespected as a top seed is on a whole other level. If USC doesn't at the very least win its region that's going to be a really tough video to look back on when the season ends.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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