The Pac-10 surpassed the ACC as the toughest conference in the nation this season, and the NCAA Division I women’s tournament field reflected that. The NCAA announced the 48-team tournament on Nov. 5. Six at-large Pac-10 teams join conference champion Washington in the postseason. Five at-large ACC teams join defending NCAA champion North Carolina, which earned the ACC’s automatic bid by beating Duke, 4-0, in the Nov. 5 conference final. Three Pac-10 teams — No. 2 Washington, No. 6 UCLA and No. 8 California — earned seeds, while two ACC teams — No. 3 Clemson and No. 5 UNC — earned seeds. As expected, Notre Dame earned the tournament’s top seed. The 1999 NCAA runner-up is the only unbeaten team in the country. Its only blemish is a tie with Connecticut. But the Irish took revenge for that tie by beating the Huskies, 1-0, in the Big East tournament final. The tournament will begin with first-round action on Nov. 8. Sixteen teams earned first-round byes and eight teams earned seeds. The 48 teams are vying to reach the Women’s College Cup, the tournament semifinals and final that will take place Dec. 1 and 3 at San Jose State’s Spartan Stadium. Notable teams that did not reach the tournament include SMU and St. Mary’s (Calif.). Bubble teams that did earn postseason invitations include Illinois, Arizona State and West Virginia. College Cup host San Jose State won the WAC tournament final, 3-1 over Tulsa, to become this year’s only postseason entrant with a losing record, at 10-12-1. First Round — Nov. 8 Michigan* vs. Miami (Ohio) Harvard* vs. Quinnipiac Stanford* vs. San Jose State Santa Clara* vs. Cal Poly Wake Forest* vs. Liberty UNC Greensboro* vs. William & Mary Wisconsin* vs. Princeton Richmond* vs. West Virginia Duke* vs. Furman Florida State* vs. Jacksonville Marquette* vs. Wright State Southern California* vs. San Diego Illinois* vs. Xavier Holy Cross* vs. Boston University Arizona State* vs. SW Missouri State Washington State* vs. Montana Second Round — Nov. 11 or 12 1 Notre Dame* vs. Michigan/Miami (Ohio) winner Hartford* vs. Harvard/Quinnipiac winner BYU* vs. Stanford/San Jose State winner 8 California* vs. Santa Clara/Cal Poly winner 5 North Carolina* vs. Wake Forest/Liberty winner Virginia* vs. UNC Greensboro/William & Mary winner Connecticut* vs. Wisconsin/Princeton winner 4 Nebraska* vs. Richmond/West Virginia winner 3 Clemson* vs. Duke/Furman winner Florida* vs. Florida State/Jacksonville winner Texas A&M* vs. Marquette/Wright State winner 6 UCLA* vs. USC/USD winner 7 Penn State* vs. Illinois/Xavier winner Dartmouth* vs. Holy Cross/Boston U. winner Portland* vs. Arizona State/Xavier winner 2 Washington* vs. Washington State/Montana winner Third Round — Nov. 17, 18 or 19 Quarterfinals — Nov. 24, 25 or 26 Semifinals — Dec. 1 Final — Dec. 3 * = host