South Carolina Opens 2026-27 at No. 1, With 15 Games Against AP Top 25 Teams / sportsearchers.com

The Associated Press released its preseason poll Tuesday, and South Carolina women’s basketball is No. 1, as widely expected. Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks received 23 of the 31 first-place votes.

Being on top also means a hard schedule. South Carolina will play 15 games against teams in the AP preseason top 25.

The ranked opponents

UConn (No. 2), Southern Cal (No. 3), Duke (No. 4), Texas (No. 6), Vanderbilt (No. 8), LSU (No. 9), UCLA (No. 11), North Carolina (No. 12), Notre Dame (No. 13), Kentucky (No. 14), Ole Miss (No. 19), Maryland (No. 20), Oklahoma (No. 21) and Oklahoma State (No. 22).

Oklahoma appears twice, with one game in Columbia and the other in Norman. That is how 14 ranked teams add up to 15 games.

Where the games are played

Home: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kentucky and LSU visit Columbia.
Road: The Gamecocks travel to Duke (as part of the SEC-ACC Challenge), Texas, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Oklahoma.
Neutral sites: The Gamecocks play Maryland in Paris, North Carolina in Charlotte, and both UCLA and Notre Dame in Las Vegas. They meet Southern Cal in Greenville and UConn in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Teams just outside the poll

Four more opponents landed in the “also receiving votes” group. Alabama (effectively No. 33) comes to Colonial Life Arena. South Carolina travels to Tennessee (No. 32), Georgia (No. 39) and Clemson (No. 42). Altogether, that is 19 games against teams ranked in the AP’s top 42.

The Coaches Poll

The USA Today Coaches Poll differs slightly in its rankings, but it includes the same ranked teams from South Carolina’s schedule as the AP poll. The Gamecocks will also face three teams from that poll’s “also receiving votes” section.

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