As it came down to the reveal of the last top seed of the 2024 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament, the ESPN broadcast showed the Stanford and Texas teams anxiously awaiting their fate in their watch parties. When the No. 1 showed up next to Texas in the bracket, the Longhorn party exploded with joy.

“I went pretty crazy,” junior forward Aaliyah Moore said. “It’s really exciting. I’ve been here three years, (and it’s) the first time we’re the No. 1 seed. I just know all the hard work the team has put in.”

The last time a Texas women’s basketball team earned the top seed was in 2004, and until the selection show, ESPN bracket experts didn’t think this would be the year. In ESPN’s final projection, the Longhorns sat at the No. 2 seed. 

Earning the first or second seed, Texas would guarantee hosting the first two rounds of the tournament at the Moody Center. If it survives the first two rounds, the team will be heading to Portland, Oregon. 

In the 2023 tournament, as the No. 2 seed, the Longhorns also hosted the first two rounds, but ultimately fell to Louisville on home ground and failed to move on to the Sweet 16.

“I think we learned a lot (from the loss),” senior guard Shay Holle said. “Almost that entire team has returned for this year, so we all know the feeling and remember it pretty well. Getting to host again, we’re very grateful for it and we know that that plays a big role. We definitely need to take advantage of it.”

Texas’ road to the Final Four matchups in Cleveland won’t be an easy one. If the team gets past Drexel in the first round on March 22, the Longhorns will face the winner of the Alabama versus Florida State duel. Also on the same side of the bracket are Tennessee, which nearly gave undefeated South Carolina its first loss, Iowa State, Texas’ opponent in the Big 12 Championship final and Stanford, who ended up as the No. 2 seed in the region.

“In Drexel you’re playing the (Coastal Athletic Conference) champion, so those kids know nothing but winning,” head coach Vic Schaefer said. “And then when you go play Alabama, Florida State, two teams from good women’s basketball conferences, … I think all three of those teams provide a unique challenge. Our kids are going to have to understand ‘Okay, we’ve earned this number one seed, now we’ve got to go win it.’”