You are right but I'd rather see the 4th
1 seed go to a team that has at least played a challenging schedule. Didn't I read somewhere that the NCAA is going to discount games played against cupcake opponents in their OOC schedule? IMO the 4th 1 seed should probably be another PAC12 team. The B12 is no better than the BE once you pass Baylor and the B1G & SEC, while competitive conferences with a lot of nice teams, can't hold a candle to the PAC12. The P12 teams play most of each other twice a year. The ACC and SEC schedule home and homes but they are more geographically set up. Tenn playing Vandi twice may be fun for the fans but it would help wcbb more if the top 3 or 4 teams played each other more. Why is Notre Dame playing BC twice every year? Isn't Louisville both closer and a more compelling opponent?
As a UConn fan I probably should hope that UConn goes to Ft Wayne. The seed is unimportant.
I get where you're coming from, but Maryland right now has the #3 SOS in the country, ahead of anyone in the PAC besides Oregon and ahead of UCONN. Their SOS is so high because their schedule has a ton of teams in the 11-50 range, but to their credit, they've won 9 of those 11 games including 7 straight. They haven't proven they can beat top 10 teams though similar to UCONN.
If the PAC doesn't get 2 number 1 seeds, they'll be well represented in 2s and 3s. The problem for the PAC right now is that no one has emerged as a strong candidate to get a #1 seed aside from Oregon. Everyone has bad losses or just hasn't been able been able to separate themselves from the rest of the PAC aside from Oregon:
UCLA-bad non conference but a good win at Indiana, wins over Arizona schools and Stanford.
Terrible loss to USC who wont be a tournament team. 2 huge games this weekend against Oregon schools. Could potentially work their way to a 1 if they beat Oregon State and make Pac 12 finals.
Stanford-good wins against Oregon State, Mississippi State and Gonzaga.
Bad loss to Texas. Still have 4 big games vs Oregon schools and Arizona schools. Could work their way higher if they finish strong.
Oregon State-wins over DePaul and Arizona schools. 5 losses though and 2 tough road games ahead. Not in contention.
Arizona-split with UCLA and Oregon State, 2 losses to Oregon. I don't think it's enough unless they beat Stanford and home and have a great showing in Pac 12 tournament. Their OOC was horrific.
I think it ultimately will come down to if the committee values teams with good wins and bad losses (Pac 12 squads, Louisville), or if they prefer teams with very few marquee wins but has respectable losses (UCONN, Maryland, possibly NC State).
But back to your final point, if UCONN wins tonight, I think they've locked in a spot in Fort Wayne which is best case scenario for the Huskies, regardless if they're a 1 or 2.