Here is how Kansas State women’s basketball fared in the latest NCAA top 16 reveal

The margin for error has all but disappeared, but the Kansas State women’s basketball team remains on track to open the NCAA Tournament at home.

The Wildcats (25-5) dropped three spots to No. 15 overall and a regional No. 4 seed Thursday in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s final in-season reveal. The top 16 — four in each regional — will serve as hosts for the first two rounds when the bracket is released on Sunday, March 16.

K-State finishes its regular season with a 3 p.m. game Sunday at Iowa State. The Wildcats suffered their first home loss Monday to Baylor, 79-62.

The selection committee has K-State slotted at No. 4 in one of the two Spokane, Washington, regionals with No. 1 overall seed UCLA, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 North Carolina.

No. 2 overall seed Texas would top a Birmingham, Alabama, region with No. 8 North Carolina State, No. 9 TCU and No. 16 Ohio State. No. 3 Southern California tops the other Spokane region with No. 6 Connecticut, No. 11 Duke and No. 14, Kentucky, while No. 4 Notre Dame is the final top seed in Birmingham with No. 5 South Carolina, No. 12 Tennessee and No. 13 Oklahoma.

Related: When will Kansas State women’s basketball star Ayoka Lee return from latest injury?

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Two losses in the last three games have dropped K-State into a third-place tie in the Big 12 with Oklahoma State at 13-4. A victory over the Cyclones would secure a top four finish and a double bye in the Big 12 Tournament.

TCU (27-3) and Baylor (25-5) are tied for the conference lead at 15-2 and play Sunday for the regular season title. K-State and Oklahoma State (23-5), which finishes Sunday at Kansas, are two games back.

Last year K-State was a No. 4 seed and played the first two rounds at Bramlage Coliseum, beating Portland and losing to Colorado.

The Wildcats learned Tuesday that star center Ayoka Lee will be out for up to two weeks with a foot injury after missing eight games and nine of the last 10 with a fracture in her other foot. She is expected back for the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Tournament selection committee rankings

Here is a look at the top 16 teams and the regions from Thursday’s NCAA tournament selection committee top 16 reveal:

Overall seed in parentheses

Spokane 1

1. UCLA (1)

2. LSU (7)

3. North Carolina (10)

4. Kansas State (15)

Birmingham 2

1. Texas (2)

2. NC State (8)

3. TCU (9)

4. Ohio State (16)

Spokane 3

1. Southern California (3)

2. UConn (6)

3. Duke (11)

4. Kentucky (14)

Birmingham 4

1. Notre Dame (4)

2. South Carolina (5)

3. Tennessee (12)

4. Oklahoma (13)

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State women’s basketball still in the fight for NCAA home games