Where AP voters ranked South Carolina women's basketball this week

On Monday, the AP top 25 dropped. South Carolina women’s basketball again sat in the No. 3 spot in the rankings. The Gamecocks had been No. 2 since the preseason, but a loss to Texas two weeks ago in the Players Era Championship caused the two teams to swap spots in the poll. This week, those positions still hold.

South Carolina, again, did not earn a first-place vote.

All 32 AP voters included Dawn Staley’s team in their top five. 31 of them listed Carolina among the top four overall teams. None of them included USC in the top two. Every voter had both UConn and Texas ahead of South Carolina. Just one voter put LSU ahead of South Carolina, indicating that the Gamecocks are the No. 2 team in the SEC this week on 31 of 32 overall ballots. Eight voters put UCLA ahead of the Gamecocks.

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24 voters listed South Carolina at No. 3, and all of them kept the Gamecocks behind UConn and Texas. Only one of those voters shifted USC up from last week, and no voters dropped Carolina on their ballot.

Seven voters listed the Gamecocks at No. 4. With Texas and UConn occupying the top two spots, all of the third-place votes ahead of South Carolina went to UCLA. Another voter slotted USC at No. 5, and on that ballot, UCLA again went to No. 3, and LSU slotted in at No. 4.

Below are the South Carolina votes from the eight total voters who put the Gamecocks somewhere other than No. 3.

No. 4: Caroline Makauskas (Lexington Herald-Leader; Lexington, Kentucky)
No. 4: Emily Adams (Hartford Courant; Hartford, Connecticut)
No. 4: Jeff Linder (Cedar Rapids-Gazette; Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
No. 4: Kelly Gramlich (ACC Network; Charlotte, North Carolina)
No. 4: Percy Allen (Seattle Times; Seattle, Washington)
No. 4: Robert Cessna (Bryan-College Station Eagle; College Station, Texas)
No. 4: Sam McKewon (Omaha World-Herald; Omaha, Nebraska)

No. 5: Joe Vozzelli (News-Gazette; Champagne, Illinois)

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In an incredible statistical and voting oddity, 2025-2026 has been the first season since 2018-2019 that South Carolina has not yet made it to No. 1.

Before next week’s poll comes out, South Carolina will play a pair of games in the Sunshine State.

First, on Thursday, the Gamecocks will face off with the South Florida Bulls in Tampa. The 7:00 p.m. showdown will broadcast on ESPN2 and stream on the ESPN app. South Carolina and South Florida have met twice in the last three seasons, with Dawn Staley’s team winning both games, including in the 2022-2023 NCAA Tournament.

Then, on Saturday, Carolina will be in Fort Myers for a matchup against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Traditional television will not carry the contest, but ESPN+ will make it available via streaming. USC hasn’t met up with FGCU since the Gamecocks’ win in the 2012-2013 Paradis Jam in the Virgin Islands.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!