As March Madness was taking hold around the country with its usual maddening upsets and drama, here at MaxPreps we were hard at work crunching numbers and seeding the Cornhusker State's girls basketball teams into their own versions of March Madness.
Since many basketball fans aren't as familiar with the Division I hoops programs as they are with their own high school basketball programs, the goal here is to demonstrate just how wacky the women's basketball tournament has played out to this point using that familiarity for the fans.
Here is how we set it up. Forty-seven district champions in Classes A (7), B (8), C1 (8), C2 (8), D1 (8) and D2 (8) were given automatic bids to the tournament. The 21 highest ranked girls basketball programs, that did not win a district basketball title, were then given at-large bids. The girls were allowed four more bids since the tournament does include the four play-in contests.
Once the field was set the 68 girls basketball teams from around Nebraska were seeded according to their ranking in MaxPreps' Nebraska Rankings. For example, the schools ranked 1-4 were given the top seeds, Nos. 5-8 the 2-seed, Nos. 9-12 the 3-seed and so on. Then they were placed into regionals based on their geographical location in the state.
Teams advanced through their bracket identical to the movement of their college counterparts last weekend. For example, in the Women's Seattle 4 Regional No. 8 seed Mississippi played its way into last weekend's Sweet 16 by upending top-seeded Stanford in the Round of 32. Therefore, Waverly, the No. 8 seed in the girls Seattle 4 Regional, advanced to the Sweet 16 after knocking off No. 1 seed Omaha Skutt Catholic in the second round.
Since No. 9 seed Miami (Fla.) knocked off eighth-seeded Oklahoma State and No. 1 seed Indiana in the second round of the women's Greenville 2 Regional, girls Greenville 2 Regional No. 9 seed Lincoln Pius X moved by No. 1 seed Elkhorn North and into the Sweet 16.
Now let's take a look at how our make-believe brackets are taking shape. To the left of each team is its seed and to the right, in parenthesis, is the school's record and its final MaxPreps Nebraska Ranking.
Two wins were tacked onto each school's record to represent the two wins each school would have acquired in advancing to the Sweet 16. The score used in the Sweet 16 results is identical to the score for that contest in the women's tournament.
Kayla Preston of Millard North shoots a free throw against Lincoln Southeast on Dec. 11, 2022. (Photo: Samuel Mfinanga)
Greenville Regional
Girls Sweet 16 results1.
North Bend Central (North Bend) (30-1, No. 1) 59, 4.
Lincoln Christian (Lincoln) (24-4, No. 13) 43
2.
Pender (29-3, No. 6) 76, 3.
Crofton (26-4, No. 10) 59
Girls Elite Eight result1. North Bend (31-1) 86, 2. Pender (30-3) 75
Seattle Regional
Girls Sweet 16 results5.
Bellevue West (Bellevue) (24-6, No. 19) 72, 8.
Waverly (19-8, No. 31) 62
2.
Adams Central (Hastings) (28-2, No. 8) 87, 6.
Wahoo (21-6, No. 23) 77
Girls Elite Eight result2. Adams Central (29-2) 97, 5. Bellevue West (25-6) 83
Greenville RegionalGirls Sweet 16 results9.
Pius X (Lincoln) (20-6, No. 35) 70, 4.
Centura (Cairo) (28-3, No. 15) 65
3.
Millard North (Omaha) (25-3, No. 9) 66, 2.
Guardian Angels Central Catholic (West Point) (24-5, No. 7) 63
Girls Elite Eight result3. Millard North (26-3) 54, 9. Lincoln Pius X (21-6) 42
Seattle Regional
Girls Sweet 16 results1.
Millard South (Omaha) (29-2, No. 3) 73, 4.
Sidney (27-3, No. 14) 64
3.
Lincoln High (Lincoln) (27-2, No. 12) 73, 2.
Bridgeport (28-1, No. 5) 61
Girls Elite Eight result1. Millard South (30-2) 84, 3. Lincoln High (28-2) 74
Girls Final Four matchups1. North Bend (32-1) vs. 2. Hastings Adams Central (30-2)
3. Millard North (27-3) vs. 1. Millard South (31-2)
