National rankings change every week.

But the Bruins found themselves at the top of the totem pole for 13 of the 18 polls released this season.

And along with securing the No. 1 spot in March 10’s AP selection, the Bruins will head into March Madness as the team to beat – the No. 1 overall seed – for the first time in program history.

After earning a No. 5 rank in the preseason poll, No. 1 overall seed UCLA women’s basketball (30-2, 16-2 Big Ten) never fell below No. 4 after dethroning South Carolina on Nov. 24. And after brief stints by Notre Dame and Texas as the No. 1, UCLA reclaimed the position just in time for March Madness.

“It’s (the No. 1 seed) just extra motivation for us,” said junior center Lauren Betts. “Now we have a picture of what our schedule is going to look like. … We’re going to be well prepared going there.”

In the first round Friday, UCLA will play the winner of the play-in game between UC San Diego and Southern at Pauley Pavilion. The First Four winner and No. 16 seed will be decided Wednesday on UCLA’s home court.

LSU, which earned a No. 3 seed in the Spokane 1 quadrant, may go head-to-head with UCLA in the Elite Eight. The Tigers sent the Bruins home in the Sweet 16 last season, marking UCLA’s second consecutive exit in the round.

“I sure wouldn’t mind LSU beating NC State,” said coach Cori Close. “Not to get ahead, but we really wouldn’t complain about another opportunity to go with them.”

The Bruins have never made it to the national championship – or even the Final Four. But with the No. 1 seed in the Spokane Regional 1, the highest seed UCLA could face in the second round is No. 8 Richmond, and the highest in the Sweet Sixteen is No. 4 Baylor.

Texas – the No. 1 seed in the Birmingham Regional 3 – and UCLA have not met since the second round of the 2021 NCAA tournament, where the Longhorns defeated the Bruins 71-62. But that was before the Westwood arrival of UCLA’s junior class, which includes Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Betts, Sixth Player of the Year and forward Janiah Barker, and guards Kiki Rice, Londynn Jones and Gabriela Jaquez.

“Our coaches do an amazing job at recruiting and bringing in top talent, great character,” Jaquez said. “I’m really excited for this team, super proud of what we’ve accomplished this season so far. And we’re obviously not done yet, and I’m excited for the tournament to start and for us to start dancing.”

Then-No. 1 South Carolina – the No. 1 seed in the Birmingham Regional 2 – made an early-season visit to Pauley Pavilion in November, during which UCLA broke the reigning champion’s 43-game winning streak. The victory was the Bruins’ first-ever win over a top-ranked team, and the upset kickstarted UCLA’s run to 30 wins in a single season – a new program record.

South Carolina went on to pick up losses against Texas on Feb. 9 and to Spokane Regional 4 No. 2 seed UConn a week later. But the Gamecocks bounced back to defeat the Longhorns 64-45 in the SEC Tournament championship – collecting their ninth conference title in 11 seasons under coach Dawn Staley.

The Bruins will need to make the title game if there’s any chance they see the Longhorns or Gamecocks.

UCLA’s history against USC, the No. 1 seed in the Spokane 4 quadrant, has been a roller coaster.

The crosstown rivals entered a new conference together and have already gone head-to-head three times this season – and could be in for a fourth duel if both teams survive until the Final Four.

The Bruins’ only two losses this season came at the hands of the Trojans – once at the Galen Center and once at Pauley Pavilion.

“We suffered a couple losses that hurt us pretty badly,” Betts said. “But I think we learned so much, and I think that talks a lot about the character of this team.”

But once the teams took the competition outside Los Angeles, UCLA took down USC in the teams’ most recent matchup in the Big Ten tournament championship, held in Indianapolis.

Each team took home Big Ten hardware – with USC gaining the regular-season title and UCLA earning the tournament championship. But the NCAA Tournament has just a single national title up for grabs.

“A No. 1 overall seed doesn’t get us to the Final Four, doesn’t get us to national championship games,” Rice said. “We’re going to go out there and earn it.”