South Carolina Women’s Basketball Comes Close to Reclaiming Top Spot in AP Rankings

Earlier this season, Head Coach Dawn Staley made a statement that her team wins and loses “at the time [they] need to”—a comment that many questioned after the Gamecocks suffered back-to-back losses to Texas and UConn in February. But following a commanding 64-45 victory over the Longhorns to capture the SEC Tournament title this Sunday, it’s clear that Staley was right all along.

The win marked South Carolina’s third consecutive season completing a full SEC Championship sweep, with the Gamecocks clinching both the SEC regular season and tournament titles for 2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025.

And there’s more news to share. On Monday, as the AP Poll updated its rankings, the Gamecocks saw a significant rise, securing the No. 2 spot. Last week, South Carolina ranked 5th, but now they are positioned just behind UCLA (1st), and ahead of UConn (3rd), Southern Cal (4th), and Texas (5th).

Here’s how the AP Top 25 rankings look, including the first-place votes:

1. UCLA Bruins (16 votes)
2. South Carolina Gamecocks (9 votes)
3. UConn Huskies (7 votes)
4. Southern Cal Trojans
5. Texas Longhorns
6. TCU Horned Frogs
7. Duke Blue Devils
8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
9. NC State Wolfpack
10. LSU Tigers
11. Oklahoma Sooners
12. North Carolina Tar Heels
13. Kentucky Wildcats
14. Baylor Bears
15. Ohio State Buckeyes
16. West Virginia Mountaineers
17. Oklahoma State Cowboys
18. Maryland Terrapins
19. Kansas State Wildcats
20. Tennessee Lady Volunteers
21. Alabama Crimson Tide
22. Creighton Blue Jays
23. Florida State Seminoles
24. South Dakota State Jackrabbits
25. Ole Miss Rebels

Moving forward, the Gamecocks won’t be playing this week, as women’s basketball teams take a break while some smaller conference tournaments wrap up their championship finals. But mark your calendars for Selection Sunday, March 16th, when fans can tune in at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN (also available on the ESPN app) to see where South Carolina lands.

Thanks to their stellar performance in the SEC Tournament, South Carolina is almost guaranteed to secure a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, with a strong possibility of earning the overall No. 1 seed as well. With the Gamecocks likely heading to the Birmingham region, USC fans will get the chance to support their team closer to home. The Gamecocks are set to play their first two NCAA Tournament games at Colonial Life Arena, before potentially heading to Birmingham for the rest of their March Madness journey.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Gamecocks as we approach Selection Sunday