South Carolina Projected as No. 1 Seed as NCAA Tournament Tips Off March 18
The road to the national championship is about to begin. The 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament officially tips off on March 18 with the First Four play-in games, launching another edition of March Madness that will run through early April.
The First Four will determine the final teams in the 64-team bracket before the main tournament begins. From there, the first and second rounds will take place between March 20 and March 23, hosted by the top 16 seeds at campus sites across the country.
For the defending powerhouse program led by Dawn Staley, the early projections remain strong. South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball is widely expected to secure one of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament field, continuing a stretch of dominance that has kept the Gamecocks near the top of women’s college basketball.
South Carolina’s Expected Tournament Path
Bracket projections suggest that South Carolina will likely be the fourth overall No. 1 seed, placing the Gamecocks in the Sacramento Regional. That path would send them to Sacramento, California, for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds if they advance through the opening weekend.
The regional rounds are scheduled for March 27–30 and will be split between two host cities: Sacramento and Fort Worth, Texas.
Despite earning a projected No. 1 seed, South Carolina’s overall placement could be slightly lower among the four top seeds following their recent SEC Tournament loss to Texas Longhorns women’s basketball. That defeat allowed Texas to strengthen its own seeding case and shuffle the order of the top teams heading into Selection Sunday.
Tournament Structure and Key Dates
The NCAA tournament will feature 68 teams competing in a single-elimination format for the national championship. The field includes automatic bids from conference champions along with at-large selections determined by the NCAA selection committee.
Important dates for the tournament include:
- Selection Sunday: March 15 (ESPN)
- First Four: March 18–19
- First Round: March 20–21
- Second Round: March 22–23
- Sweet 16 / Elite Eight: March 27–30
- Final Four: April 3
- National Championship: April 5
The Final Four and national championship game will take place in Phoenix, Arizona.
A Familiar Position for Staley’s Program
For South Carolina, entering the tournament as a No. 1 seed has become almost routine under Staley. The Gamecocks have established themselves as one of the most consistent programs in women’s college basketball over the past decade, regularly competing for SEC titles and national championships.
Even after the SEC Tournament setback, the program’s résumé—built on a dominant regular season and elite national ranking—keeps them firmly among the favorites to make another deep March run.
Now, as the bracket announcement approaches and March Madness begins, the focus shifts from projections to performance. If South Carolina handles its early rounds, the Sacramento Regional could once again become the stage where Staley’s team pushes toward another Final Four appearance.
If you want, I can also **expand this into a 600–700 word feature article with deeper analysis on South Carolina’s potential path and key players (like Joyce Edwards, Raven Johnson, etc.) heading into the tournament.**
