Five major women's NCAA Tournament storylines heading into Selection Sunday

As Selection Sunday draws near, anticipation continues to grow as teams await to see where they will be seeded on March 15, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

While some decisions will be fairly straightforward, there will be plenty of tough decisions to be made by the selection committee to put the entire bracket together.

With that in mind, here are five major women’s college basketball storylines heading into Selection Sunday:

UConn looking to close out another undefeated season

Not only did the Huskies (34-0, 20-0 Big East) put together a perfect regular season for the 11th time in program history, but they backed that up with their 13th consecutive conference tournament title when they downed Villanova, 90-51, to win the Big East Tournament championship on Monday.

If the Huskies win their next six games, they will repeat as national champions and convert their unblemished record into a 13th national title — all of which have come under the leadership of head coach Geno Auriemma.

Who will get the top overall seed?

As good as UConn has been this season, the UCLA Bruins (31-1, 18-0 Big Ten) have put together a resume that is certainly worthy of consideration for the No. 1 overall seed. While the Huskies are a perfect 9-0 against Quad 1 teams, the Bruins are 19-1 against such competition with their lone defeat coming to a Texas Longhorns team that took down top-seed South Carolina to win the SEC Tournament title. 

UConn would appear to be the obvious choice as the nation’s top-ranked team, but there is a case to be made for UCLA as well given the Big Ten gauntlet that it had to overcome and the lack of competition that the Huskies faced in a weak Big East conference.

What will the committee do with Tennessee?

The Lady Vols (16-13, 8-8 SEC) have seven consecutive losses, including a one-and-done performance in the SEC Tournament. That inconsistency has put them in uncomfortable territory as they await their destiny on Sunday.

However, there has never been an NCAA Tournament without Tennessee and there is no reason to believe that will change. ESPN’s Charlie Creme projects the Lady Vols to be an eight-seed in his latest bracketology. Considering the depth of the SEC and that the power conference tournaments are already wrapped up, Tennessee should be in the field once again.

Conference tournament results already playing a major role

Unlike the men's NCAA Tournament, the top-16 teams in the women's bracket host first and second-round games. The NCAA revealed which teams will be hosting those games on Saturday, with North Carolina and Big 12 Tournament-champion West Virginia joining the fold.

While the exact seed for those 16 teams will not be revealed until Sunday night, the addition of the Tar Heels and Mountaineers means that two teams — Maryland and Michigan State — fell out after second-round losses in the Big Ten Tournament.

Which bubble teams will hear their names called?

Virginia, Arizona State, Nebraska and Richmond are projected to be the "Last Four In" as of Saturday, while BYU, Texas A&M, Utah and Mississippi State are in the "First Four Out." Nebraska (NET ranking of 28) has the best NET ranking of the bunch, but with only one Quad 1 win, it will be interesting to see which of those teams the committee elects to put in the field considering the flaws that each of them have.