South Carolina women's basketball: Gamecocks learn their road to the Final Four
South Carolina Women’s Basketball: News • Recruiting • Schedule • Roster • Stats • SEC Standings • NCAA Polls • Scholarship Chart
South Carolina is the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, heading up the Albany 1 region.
South Carolina will host the first two rounds of the tournament on March 22 and 24. The other teams in Columbia are Sacred Heart and Presbyterian, who will play a First Four game on Tuesday for the right to play South Carolina. #8 North Carolina and #9 Michigan State are the other side of the Columbia bracket. Tipoff times will be announced later.
(Update: Sacred Heart and Presbyterian play at 7 pm on Wednesday. North Carolina and Michigan State play at 11:30 am on Friday. South Carolina plays at approximately 2:00 pm on Friday.)
South Carolina is in the Albany 1 region, and should they advance the Gamecocks would play in the Sweet 16 on March 29 and Elite Eight on March 31 in Albany, NY. As the top overall seed, South Carolina is assured of playing the earlier of two dates in their region (the other games are the 30th and 1st).
It is a change from last year when they played second and had a quick turnaround to get to Dallas. The NCAA recognized that the top overall seed should have the more advantageous schedule and made the correction.
The Final Four is in Cleveland at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The national semifinals are on Friday, April 5, and the championship game is on Sunday, April 7.
The other one seeds are Iowa, Southern Cal, and Texas. Iowa is also in Albany, but the Gamecocks and Hawkeyes could not meet until the national championship game. South Carolina is paired with Texas in the Portland 4 region.
Notre Dame is the #2 seed in the Albany 1 region. Other teams include #4 Indiana and #3 Oregon State, and #7 Ole Miss.
Eight SEC teams made the NCAA Tournament. In addition to South Carolina, they are LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Texas A&M, and Auburn.
It is the fourth consecutive season and eighth time in program history that the Gamecocks have earned a number one seed. All eight times have occurred in the last 10 tournaments (South Carolina was a two in 2018 and four in 2019, interrupting the steak).
This is the Gamecocks’ 12th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and overall it is the 20th in program history. There was no tournament in 2020, but South Carolina would have been the top overall seed that year.
South Carolina has made three consecutive Final Fours, winning it all in 2022. South Carolina also made the Final Four in 2015 and captured its first championship in 2017.
