For any year prior to this, USC would gladly accept the no.1 seed. But after a 28-3 record, a season where Trojans’ arenas were sold out weeks before a game, where they’d reach the No.2 ranking for the first time since 1984, and beat out top-ranked in-city rivals twice, Lindsey Gottlieb wasn’t ready for the Selection Committee’s results. A coach who made USC a championship-caliber team made her reserves known and not everyone understood. So an ESPN analyst is here to straighten it out for them.

Following the bracket reveal that landed USC in the Spokane 4 region, the coach was quick to make her distaste known. “I never thought I’d be a 1 seed and feel disrespected,” she said. A Dan LeBatard Show regular, Greg Cote wasn’t a fan of the reaction. On the podcast, he’d suggest that Gottlieb should have rather expressed excitement and gratitude for the opportunity than criticizing. Now that was in conversation with Elle Duncan and the ESPN analyst took it to her own show to blast the opinion.

“I was asked on The Dan Le Batard Show today—Greg Cote was basically like, ‘You’re a number one seed. Why are you upset?… ’ I’m like, that’s platitudes,’” she made clear on the Elle Duncan Show. The reporter of over 2 decades respected the HC’s comments, considering their 13 Quad-1 wins, including over teams like South Carolina, UConn, and UCLA. So she didn’t hold back in standing up for the team.

“I like the fact that she was like, ‘No, I think it’s totally fair to say that while they ended up losing to UCLA in the Big Ten Championship, USC beat your number one overall seed twice, and they beat them handily twice. Within the last three weeks, they had beaten them twice,” she added.

Think about that—UCLA, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, lost to USC twice by double-digit margins. Yet, while the Bruins sit at the top, the Trojans are obliged to walk the brutal path to the Final Four. So no, it’s not just about the rankings. It’s about the road ahead.

For the second straight year, USC is staring down UConn in the Elite Eight—the same UConn team that ended their season last year. Rebecca Lobo didn’t hesitate to call it out: “I asked the committee this question when we had that prep call—did you not think at all about the matchup? The idea that, for a second straight year, a number one-seeded USC has to get through UConn to get to the Final Four. It ended their season last year. And on top of that, a team that they just faced in December, right?”

And, honestly, Lobo got a point here. USC already proved they could beat UConn, edging them out 72-70 earlier this season. But why set up a rematch so soon? It could have easily been avoided. From a competition standpoint, it feels unfair. From a TV ratings perspective, it makes no sense.

Women’s college basketball has been pulling in massive viewership numbers, and both Juju Watkins and Paige Bueckers are must-watch players. They have the skill, the star power, and the ability to turn a game upside down in an instant. Just ask UCLA and South Carolina.

Every time they step on the court, they deliver highlight-worthy plays. So why have them face off before the Final Four? That’s a wasted opportunity for the NCAA. Just look at the numbers from their December game. On December 21, 2024, USC vs. UConn averaged 2.23 million viewers on Fox, making it the second-most-watched women’s college basketball game on the network. At its peak, viewership hit 3.76 million—proof that fans were locked in until the final moments.

And here’s the kicker: That game was the most-watched women’s basketball matchup of the 2024-25 season across any network. And it went head-to-head with the College Football Playoff game between Tennessee and Ohio State on ESPN. This could have been an easy fix—a way to bring even more attention to women’s basketball. Instead, the committee stuck to a questionable decision that could have been avoided. The most frustrating part? The solution was right there in front of them.

NCAA selection committee had a better solution

Sometimes, all it takes is one simple adjustment to change everything. That’s exactly what Rebecca Lobo pointed out when she said the committee could have easily swapped Texas and USC in the bracket. “You’re going to make that their path when it would have been very easy for not just USC, but for TV purposes, to swap Texas and USC. ”

But here’s where things get tricky. Rick Pitino starting the tournament in Providence? A potential second-round faceoff with John Calipari? That kind of drama doesn’t just happen by accident.

And then, there was a strong argument for making USC the third No. 1 seed. Two dominant wins over UCLA and a victory over UConn backed it up. Their only real blemish? A road loss to Iowa. Meanwhile, you could also argue that UConn deserved a No. 1 seed over Texas—after all, they steamrolled South Carolina on the road, went on a 10-game double-digit win streak, and held the No. 1 NET ranking. The Selection Committee had options they have chosen to overlook. This lands them in one notable consequence.

The bracket now locks in back-to-back matchups we’ve already seen—USC vs. UCLA for the fourth time and Texas vs. South Carolina for the fourth time. Not really a good look for the game.

Even Lobo called it out—when teams play each other four times in one season, it’s not “beautiful basketball.” And yet, here we are.

Whatever the reason, the result is the same—Juju Watkins and USC now have a much tougher road to a national championship than they probably should.