Auburn men, UCLA women earn No. 1 overall seeds
-
José de Jesus Ortiz, Founder & Editor in Chief
- March 17, 2025
Auburn's Chad Baker-Mazara, UCLA's Gabriela Jaquez carry high expectations
Chad Baker-Mazara’s Auburn, which was the No. 1 team in the country most of the season, was named the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. On the women’s side, Gabriela Jaquez and the UCLA Bruins earned the No. 1 overall seed.
With the top overall seeds, the Auburn men and UCLA women made school history. The Auburn men and UCLA women had never been top seeds.
Baker-Mazara, a native of the Dominican Republic, and Jaquez, a Mexican American from Camarillo, Calif., both play key roles for their respective teams. Baker-Mazara is arguably Auburn’s second best player. Jaquez, the younger sister of the Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr., is a key starter for the Bruins.
She played a pivotal role in helping the Bruins defend against USC superstar JuJu Watkins in the Big Ten Tournament final.
Auburn (28-5) is in the South Region. The Tigers will open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. They’ll face the winner of the First Four game between Alabama State and St. Francis.
Duke (East), Florida (West) and Houston (Midwest) are the other No. 1 seeds in the men’s tournament. Auburn and Florida were part of an NCAA Tournament record 14 bids for the Southeastern Conference. St. John’s, which is led by Dominican American star RJ Luis Jr., is the No. 2 seed in the West Region.
Auburn coach ‘Very pleased’
“We’re very pleased to have been recognized as this year’s No. 1 overall seed,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl told local media. “We sort of feel like that makes us the regular-season national champion.
“These are the highest goals I’ve ever had heading into the NCAA tournament. It allows us to be able to say that our goal is to win the national championship. It allows us to say that, if we don’t win the national championship, we’ll be disappointed, as a No. 1 seed.”
More from Our Esquina
Auburn star Chad Baker-Mazara has ‘It’
RJ Luis Jr. is first Latino Big East Player of the Year
Andersson Garcia finds ‘Family’ at Texas A&M
On the women’s side, South Carolina, Texas and USC are the other No. 1 seeds. Defending national champion South Carolina beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa for the 2024 title.
The Bruins (30-2) were 16-2 in the Big Ten this season. They beat USC to win the conference tournament in the inaugural season in the Big Ten for the Los Angeles rivals. UCLA will be at home at Pauley Pavilion for the first and second rounds.
They’ll open the tournament on Friday against the winner of the First Four game between No. 16 seeds UC San Diego and Southern. The Bruins are led by center Lauren Betts, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
José de Jesus Ortiz
Founder & Editor in Chief
Award-winning writer José de Jesus Ortiz, a former lead sports columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has covered Major League Baseball since 1997 in Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, New York and Houston. He was the first Latino to serve as president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Stay in the Loop
Get the Our Esquina Email Newsletter
By submitting your email, you are agreeing to receive additional communications and exclusive content from Our Esquina. You can unsubscribe at any time.