ESPN Women's Basketball

The country's No. 1-ranked team given a No. 2 seed? We thought that was a little puzzling, too.

So we've tossed out the top-25 polls and taken matters into our own hands. Based on pairings and potential matchups, here's how we rank the top 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament field:

ESPN.com's POWER 16
TEAM	COMMENT
1. LSU	After two weeks in Tennessee, Lady Tigers will pack bags for Indy.
2. Tennessee	Oh, the irony. Vols will dominate Geno's old Philly stomping ground to reach fourth straight Final Four.
3. Baylor	Refs, take notice -- no lame-brained, last-second calls will ruin the Lady Bears this season.
4. Connecticut	Bracket is favorable, experience a big plus. But it's too soon to tell if Geno will win a new ring to get stolen.
5. North Carolina	Nothing like playing at home. Nothing like that Tar Heel speed.
6. Michigan State	Reward for being a No. 1? The toughest regional, possibly facing K-State in Kansas City, and Stanford and three-time champ UConn in the distance.
7. Stanford	Early reports from Lewis & Clark expedition: Cardinal are the best on the West Coast.
8. Ohio State	New program. New conference. Same old Pat Summitt looming for Jim Foster.
9. Duke	Has overcome losing Beard, Harding. Can it overcome getting stuck in the bottom half of LSU's region?
10. Rutgers	Pondexter, we dig your ballhandling skills. But keep your fingers to yourself. And by the way, that Storrs, Conn., crowd might make Simon Cowell seem polite.
11. Notre Dame	Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey. Along came Ivory Latta, whose Heels couldn't be hotter, and chased the Irish away.
12. Minnesota	Can't wait to see Janel McCarville match up with Baylor's inside tandem.
13. Texas	A pinkie hasn't been this hot a topic since Henry Winkler made a leather jacket and two thumbs up look cool.
14. Kansas State	Can't see the Wildcats failing to reach regional semis in KC, which would be one of the best advantages of the tourney.
15. Temple	I was hootin' and hollerin' when I saw that low No. 6 seed, too. Owls deserved better.
16. Texas Tech	Erin Grant, when my daughter's old enough, will you school her on how to play point guard? Please?
Five others receiving votes: DePaul, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Georgia, NC State.

Melanie Jackson coordinates ESPN.com's women's basketball coverage.