Not only is a conference championship at stake this weekend at the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament at Seattle’s Key Arena, so, too, is seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

All four top seeds are projected to be a top-four seed for the NCAA Tournament and to host first- and second-round games when the bracket is announced on March 14.

As of Monday night, Oregon State (6), Arizona State (7) and UCLA (10) were all in the NCAA selection committee’s top 10. Stanford was one of two teams also considered. That would mean the Beavers and Sun Devils would be No. 2 seeds and UCLA and Stanford No. 3 seeds.

All four are most likely locks for a top-four seed, regardless of what happens this weekend.

But if the Beavers or the Sun Devils were to lose in the quarterfinals, they could fall from a No. 2 seed, according to ESPN’s bracketology expert Charlie Crème.

“Being a No. 2 or 3 seed doesn’t matter in the big picture except on where that might send them on (for a) regional,” Crème said Tuesday. “So it’s not really about the number but what that number signifies, potentially anyway, what region they would be placed in. So that’s the important thing to look at.”

Being the No. 8 team overall could mean a potential matchup with powerhouse Connecticut in the regional finals for a trip to the Final Four.

Crème said it is unlikely for either Oregon State or Arizona State to move up to a No. 1 seed, as those are all but set with UConn, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Baylor.

“I think (Monday night’s) Baylor win over Texas nailed down the No. 1 seeds,” he said. “Baylor was the only one remotely vulnerable and that was only small. And now that they have beaten the No. 5 team twice, both by double figures, I don’t see any way they’re going to slide out of that spot.”

Right now, all four Pac-12 teams would be a No. 2 or No. 3 seed, and Crème said that could still be the case at the end of the weekend.

“If things go to form, at least into the semifinals, and Stanford and UCLA were to get to the final, let’s say, I see a scenario where they all still would be top-three seeds,” he said. “Even if they don’t, there’s still lots of scenarios in play that would keep them there. The teams right behind them, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Florida State, (if) they go out in the same round of their tournament and it’s probably really more status quo.

“There’s a very definite scenario where they could all be (No.) 2 or (No.) 3 seeds.”

While the top four teams nationally have been the usual suspects the past few years, Crème said the battle for the other seeds has become more competitive, even if the casual fan does not notice it.

“There are more teams as you go down the list are competitive with one another and the group is bigger than it used to be,” he said.

He said Oregon State is a perfect example.

“That was a program not even on the radar in terms of postseason play just a few years ago, now they’ve become a regular in the top 10,” Crème said. “And that stretches the game out.”

Crème said the Pac-12 as a whole has become more competitive in recent years and he mentioned that Mike Neighbors, the Washington coach, may have had something to do with the shift.

Neighbors, Crème said, challenged the coaches to get better talent, schedule more competitively and people would notice.

That is what has happened as Stanford (7), ASU (8), OSU (9) and UCLA (10) are all in the top 10 in RPI through Monday’s games.

“Get better players so you feel better about playing better competition and keep playing that better competition and it’s going to pay dividends, and it has,” Crème said.

So much so that the Pac-12 could have four of the top 12 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.