Iowa, Caitlin Clark Eye Elusive Title After Securing No. 1 Seed in NCAA Tournament

The Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team has received its first No. 1 seed since 1992.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are ready to dance.

On Selection Sunday, the Hawkeyes women’s team was awarded its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament since 1992. Iowa ranked as the second overall seed behind the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks. The other No. 1 seeds are USC and Texas.

In the Albany 2 Region, the Hawkeyes are slated to start their March Madness run against the winner of No. 16 Holy Cross—UT Martin in the first round at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on either Friday or Saturday. Iowa will host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Coming off a three-peat as Big Ten champs, the Hawkeyes (29—4) will be hunting their first-ever NCAA title this year. Led by the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in Caitlin Clark, Iowa is staring down a treacherous path in a region loaded with the defending national champion, LSU, plus UCLA, Kansas State and Colorado.

Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes are poised to play their first two games of the 2024 NCAA tournament at home, with their first matchup coming against the winner of the Holy Cross-UT Martin play-in game :: Jeffrey Becker/USA Today sports

Last season, Kim Mulkey’s Tigers beat Iowa, 102—85, in the national championship game to win their first NCAA title in program history. This time around, Clark and the Hawkeyes will be looking to make some herstory of their own. Iowa’s NCAA women’s tournament history includes five Elite Eights, two Final Fours and one national title game appearance.

Dawn Staley’s No. 1-seeded Gamecocks (32–0) are on the other side of the bracket and could potentially face Iowa in this year’s national championship game in Cleveland.