Where South Carolina women's basketball sits in updated NET rankings hierarchy

South Carolina women’s basketball owns a 9-1 overall record through the first five weeks of the 2025-2026 season. The Gamecocks lost on a last-second shot to the Texas Longhorns but beat every other team on the schedule, including Clemson, Duke, Southern Cal, and Louisville. This week’s AP top 25 included Dawn Staley’s team at No. 3 in the country.

When the first NET rankings of the season came out last week, South Carolina slotted in at No. 6 nationally. They were also third in the SEC. That didn’t change this week. Ahead of the Gamecocks sit the UConn Huskies (1), LSU Tigers (2), Michigan Wolverines (3), UCLA Bruins (4), and Texas Longhorns (5).

These NET rankings have been updated following last night’s games around the country.

The NET, for those unfamiliar, is the most important ranking metric used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. It factors in Team Value Index (essentially a team’s on-court results, location of games, and strength of schedule) and adjusted net efficiency ratings (how well a team plays in those games, adjusted for the quality of opponent and location of games).

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At the time of this writing, South Carolina holds a 2-1 record against Quad 1 opponents, having knocked off Southern Cal in a neutral-site contest (though it was in Los Angeles), losing to Texas in Las Vegas at the Players Era Championship, and beating Louisville on the road.

The Gamecocks are 2-0 against teams from Quad 2, with wins over Duke and Clemson. USC hasn’t played a Quad 3 foe, and they are 5-0 against Quad 4 squads. Those lower quad games all came at Colonial Life Arena.

Coach Staley always creates one of the country’s top schedules. Because of that, South Carolina will have additional chances to improve their NET ranking very soon. In the team’s next two times on the floor, the Gamecocks will face one Quad 1 foe and another from Quad 2.

First, on Sunday, the Penn State Nittany Lions will be in Columbia for a 3:30 p.m. contest. ESPN will broadcast the non-conference showdown, while the ESPN app makes it available via streaming. Penn State is currently a Quad 2 opponent with a No. 69 NET ranking.

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