Welcome to another season of Bracketology! It may be a new year, but everyone is still chasing South Carolina, the winners of 41 straight who return four starters from last season's undefeated national championship team.
The Gamecocks aren't shying away from a challenge. They kicked off the season with wins over likely NCAA Tournament teams in Michigan and NC State, and will face a trio of ranked teams over the next three weeks in UCLA, Iowa State and Duke.
Dawn Staley's team is 33-1 versus ranked opponents over the last four seasons, including 12 straight victories. It's an incredible run of dominance, and one only a special effort can hope to upend.
Many familiar faces are near the top of these early-season bracket projections, but what's different for many is their conference.
Last season, six teams from the Pac-12 earned top-five seeds, most of any league. But after the Pac-12's evaporation (at least for now) during the current round of conference realignment, those teams are spread among the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and WCC.
This means only 31 auto bids are available instead of the usual 32, with one extra at-large spot up for grabs.
But don't assume this means more room for the smaller conferences. Take the Big Ten, which had eight schools in the 68-team field a year ago. It picks up title contenders USC and UCLA, along with Oregon and Washington, both of which could also make the tournament.
In fact, the Big Ten and SEC are both currently projected to have 12 teams in the field this season (reminder: Texas and Oklahoma are both in the SEC). Whether that many schools can come out of conference play clean enough to hear their names called on Selection Sunday remains to be seen, but the potential is there.
Let's dig into the first projections of the season. Remember, it is very early, so a good deal of movement should be expected. Teams with asterisks are projected auto bids.
No. 1 seeds: South Carolina*, UConn*, USC*, Texas
The list of teams chasing Dawn Staley's Gamecocks starts with UConn. Now nine seasons removed from their last championship (a fact hard to believe), the Huskies are looking for title No. 12 in what's likely Paige Bueckers' final season.
An early milestone could come Friday against Duke, as Geno Auriemma can tie Tara VanDerveer's NCAA record with his 1,216th career victory.
USC has already started setting records with the superstar duo of JuJu Watkins and Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen. In their last game against Cal State Northridge, the Trojans set school records for both points (124) and scoring margin (+85) in a game.
Texas returns most of last season's team that finished as a No. 1 seed and has leader Rori Harmon looking strong in her return from a torn ACL.
No. 2 seeds: Notre Dame*, UCLA, LSU, Kansas State*
Notre Dame is poised to make its first deep NCAA Tournament run under Niele Ivey after three straight Sweet 16 defeats. Olivia Miles, Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron make up the country's best guard trio, and will likely all be in the WNBA a few years from now.
UCLA and Kansas State return star centers Lauren Betts and Ayoka Lee, who are both must-watch television but need to stay healthy for their teams to reach their true potential.
And while LSU has yet to face any serious competition, one does have to admire how they do not mess around with teams they're expected to beat quite handily. Through three games, the Tigers have three wins by at least 50 points.
No. 3 seeds: Oklahoma, Iowa State, Maryland, NC State
Once upon a time, this grouping of teams included two Big 12 squads and two ACC teams. But this year marks the 10-year anniversary of Maryland's departure to the Big Ten and Oklahoma's first season in the SEC.
That hasn't stopped Maryland from picking up a pair of quality wins over ACC teams in Duke and Syracuse over the past week. Oklahoma joined in on the fun with a 95-51 domination of Virginia, led by 26 points and 14 rebounds from Oregon State transfer Raegan Beers.
Iowa State has rolled to its third 4-0 start in the four seasons, and while NC State fell to the reigning national champions, its fight to cut a 15-point deficit down to seven in the fourth quarter was admirable.
No. 4 seeds: Ohio State, Duke, Baylor, West Virginia
The four-line begins with Ohio State as they start the post-Jacy Sheldon era. Freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge's 31-point debut against Cleveland State proved that things would be fine at the position, while Oregon transfer Chance Gray's 31 points against Charlotte showed things might be more than fine.
Few teams are playing as difficult a non-conference schedule as Kara Lawson's Duke Blue Devils. Even games against teams like South Dakota State, Belmont and Columbia come against some of the toughest mid-majors in the country.
Baylor was also battle-tested early in a two-point loss at Oregon, while West Virginia's Friday home game against Texas A&M will give good insight as to where the Mountaineers are at this point in the year.
No. 5 seeds: Stanford, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Florida State
No. 6 seeds: TCU, Alabama, Iowa, Louisville
No. 7 seeds: Oregon, Illinois, Vanderbilt, Tennessee
No. 8 seeds: Michigan State, Utah, Nebraska, Michigan
No. 9 seeds: Mississippi State, Indiana, Kentucky, Washington
No. 10 seeds: South Dakota St*, Texas A&M, California, Richmond*
No. 11 seeds: Arizona, Auburn, Princeton*, Miami (Fla.), St. Joseph's, Middle Tennessee*
No. 12 seeds: UNLV*, Gonzaga*, South Florida*, Florida Gulf Coast*
No. 13 seeds: Drake*, Grand Canyon*, Cleveland State*, James Madison*
No. 14 seeds: Norfolk State*, Ball State*, Fairfield*, UC Irvine*
No. 15 seeds: Albany*, Lamar*, Northern Arizona*, Southern Indiana*
No. 16 seeds: Drexel*, Wofford*, Colgate*, Grambling State*, High Point*, Fairleigh Dickinson*
Last Four In: Arizona, Auburn, Miami (Fla.), St. Joseph's
First Four Out: Minnesota, George Mason, Georgia Tech, Kansas