UConn vs South Carolina Rivalry Pauses Amid Speculation and Disappointment
For over a decade, women’s college basketball fans have been treated to high-stakes matchups between Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies and Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks, despite the teams playing in different conferences. But that fierce annual showdown is coming to a surprising halt.
On Friday, CT Insider’s Maggie Vanoni and Carl Adamec reported that the UConn-South Carolina rivalry will not take place during the 2025-26 regular season, ending an 11-year run of marquee matchups between two of the sport’s biggest programs.
Analysts Mark Zanetto and Tee Baker discussed the cancellation on The Hoops Cap Pod, speculating that there may be lingering tensions between the two legendary coaches.
“I think they can talk — Geno and Dawn can talk about how they’re both from [Philadelphia], and they both razz each other and stuff like that. But they’re both from Philly, so they’re both sensitive too,” Zanetto said. “What that means to me is that they’re both in their feelings about — or one of them is in their feelings about — what last year.”
The comment refers to UConn’s sweep over South Carolina in 2025, including a decisive 82–59 win in the national championship game, after also handing the Gamecocks their first regular season loss earlier in the year.
Zanetto also pointed to a separate moment that may have added tension — Auriemma’s comments in April regarding the statues of Dawn Staley and A’ja Wilson in South Carolina.
“Smart money is probably on Dawn [being upset] … maybe that was insensitive on Geno’s part,” he said. “There are other factors that went into the statues … I get all that. But I think the bigger basketball issue is that it’s a major blow to women’s basketball. It kind of pisses me off.”
“It’s kind of a joke that the two most iconic teams of this era aren’t going to play — especially because there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.”
While Auriemma holds a comfortable lead in the overall series, Staley had dominated in recent years, winning four straight matchups between 2020 and 2023 — including their showdown in the 2022 NCAA title game, which South Carolina won.
But in 2025, UConn flipped the narrative, ending South Carolina’s unbeaten run and reclaiming national supremacy.
Whether this pause in the rivalry is temporary or a longer-term cooling of relations remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure — fans, players, and analysts alike are feeling the sting of losing one of women’s basketball’s greatest showdowns.
