South Carolina WBB slips to 2-seed in final NCAA rankings before Selection Sunday

South Carolina women’s basketball was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s final Top 16 rankings, unveiled Thursday.

The Gamecocks (25-3, 13-1 SEC) are No. 5 overall in the rankings and in the Birmingham 4 region. In the projected bracket, USC would be in the same region with No. 1 seed Notre Dame, third-seeded Tennessee and fourth-seeded Oklahoma.

Dawn Staley’s squad was ranked No. 2 overall in the first Top 16 rankings, unveiled Feb. 16. The Gamecocks were the No. 1 seed of the Birmingham 2 region. South Carolina notably lost to UConn a few hours after those initial rankings were released.

Derita Dawkins, chair of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball committee, said South Carolina’s loss to UConn factored into the Gamecocks dropping from a 1 seed to a 2 seed.

“The UConn-South Carolina game, that was a 29-point win for UConn, is part of what led to South Carolina not being on the one line anymore,” Dawkins said on ESPN2. “If you look at our one, two and three, our overall one, two and three, those teams have not lost since the last reveal.”

South Carolina has been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament eight times during Staley’s tenure, including the last four seasons. The Gamecocks were also a No. 1 seed for four years between the 2013-2014 and 2016-2017 seasons.

The tournament’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds will be played at two sites: Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington. This year’s Final Four and national championship games are at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

When is NCAA selection show?

The full NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced on Selection Sunday, March 16. The selection show will be televised at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Top 16 rankings

Released Thursday, Feb. 27

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 Cal (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)

This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 6:46 PM with the headline "South Carolina WBB slips to 2-seed in final NCAA rankings before Selection Sunday."

Michael Sauls

The State

Michael Sauls is The State’s South Carolina women’s basketball reporter. He previously worked at The Virginian-Pilot covering Norfolk State and Hampton University sports. A Columbia native, he is an alum of the University of South Carolina.