UConn, Irish, South Carolina, Baylor top seeds in NCAAs

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Source: FOX Sports

FILE - In this March 6, 2017, file photo, the Connecticut women's basketball team pose with the American Athletic Conference championship trophy after defeating South Florida in an NCAA college basketball game tournament final in Uncasville, Conn. UConn finishes the season at No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll for the 14th time in school history. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

NEW YORK (AP) UConn’s drive for five will begin at home.

Winners of 107 straight games, coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies won’t have to leave the state of Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament until the Final Four as they try for an unprecedented fifth consecutive national championship.

The top seed will open at home on Saturday against Albany and if they advance to the Bridgeport Regional would have a short drive there.

While the Huskies won’t have to leave the state until potentially heading to Dallas for the national semifinals, the other No. 1 seeds aren’t as lucky.

South Carolina is the top seed in Stockton, California. The Gamecocks are headed out of the Eastern time zone for the third time in four seasons. The Gamecocks’ lone trip to the Final Four came when they played a regional in Greensboro in 2015.

”I don’t know what more we can do,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. ”We won our conference tournament to play closer. Two years ago, we got sent to Greensboro. Last year, we had to take the time zone flight, over two time zones. I thought it was our turn to get flipped back to the Greensboro kind of ideology. I’m not going to say it’s not fair. But they got to figure out a different way.”

NCAA selection committee chair Terry Gawlik defended the choice to send South Carolina out west again.

Baylor is the No. 1 in the Oklahoma City Regional and Notre Dame is the top choice in Lexington, Kentucky.

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