All season long it seems the women’s college basketball world has been giving defending national champion South Carolina its props but also overlooking them when it comes to the No 1 rankings.
South Carolina’s 64-45 demolition of No. 2 seed Texas in the SEC Tournament championship (64-45) has re-established Dawn Staley’s dynasty as the squad to beat during March Madness.
At least in Vegas.
UConn and South Carolina Odds On Favorites To Win 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament
UConn and South Carolina are tied at +300 as favorites to win the 2025 Women’s National Championship. The Huskies are competing in the Big East championship game for the fifth consecutive time since rejoining the conference. They are battling Creighton on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
They are followed by JuJu Watkins’ USC Trojans, who have the third-highest odds at +575, despite the loss to UCLA in the Big Ten title game on Sunday.
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UCLA has the fourth-highest odds at +600, followed by Texas +650 and Notre Dame +700.
The UCLA Bruins returned to the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball rankings after knocking off USC fo the first time this season in three meetings. This is the Bruins’ 13th week at No. 1 this season, as they spent 12 straight weeks at the top spot while they were undefeated. Cori Close’s squad seems to be a more popular team with the pollsters this season.
However, Staley, a legendary coach with three NCAA titles (2017, 2022, 2024) and probably the most talented team in the country, wasn’t celebrating small wins.
Dawn Staley Thinks South Carolina Should Be No. 1 Overall Seed Over UCLA
She said her team deserves to be the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament following a dominant run through the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The Gamecocks (30-3) entered the SEC Tournament ranked fifth in the country and projected to be a No. 2 seed, which was low to begin with considering the level of competition they play in the SEC.
But after trashing three league opponents by 18, 21 and 19 points, and locking in a No. 2 overall seed for March Madness, Staley prefers the overall No. 1 seed and all of the respect that comes with it.
“When you win this tournament and play the schedule that we play, I do think we’re the No. 1 overall seed,” Staley said. “We manufactured our schedule to put ourselves in this situation. So I hope the committee doesn’t discount our entire resume. There isn’t anybody in the country that has played the schedule that we have played, that had a share of the regular season title, won this tournament and beat the No. 1 team in the country. … there is no one.”
South Carolina Has Toughest Schedule In Country, UCLA Has Sixth
Staley has a legit argument. The Gamecocks’ 2024-25 resume, featuring 12 wins against Top 25 teams, including two against Texas, should hold more weight. South Carolina boasts a 7-3 record against Top 10 teams, with their three losses coming against No. 1 Texas, No. 3 Connecticut and No. 4 UCLA. Also, according to Massey ratings, Gamecock Nation has the toughest schedule in the country this season, while UCLA’s is sixth.
Staley said was “shocked” to learn her team was the No. 2 seed coming into the tournament.
“If you get so much credit for beating us, and yet when we have had some of the toughest stretches in the country and came out of it unscathed, you can’t discount that,” Staley said. “You can’t discredit that. I’m going to speak up about it because you have to hear the voice of the other side. Because if you don’t think our body of work deserves it, then you need to speak out on it.”
She added: “I’m going to go down fighting for what our team earned.”
Staley, who earned her third NCAA title in 2024, always has much to prove and she can start by surviving the gauntlet that will be the NCAA Tournament and proving victorious with her array of talented and versatile players from Tessa Johnson to Chloe Kitts.
