No. 1 South Carolina’s SEC slate begins today. Previewing every conference opponent
South Carolina women’s basketball sets out in Southeastern Conference play Thursday with a trip to Missouri.
Head coach Dawn Staley’s top-ranked Gamecocks went 12-0 through the early non-conference schedule, defeating five top-10 teams and two teams ranked No. 2 — UConn on Nov. 22 and Stanford on Dec. 21.
Six SEC teams, including top-ranked South Carolina, ranked in the NET’s top 30 at the conclusion of non-conference action, including Texas A&M (27), which the Gamecocks play twice this season. South Carolina catches Georgia (14), LSU (23) and Arkansas (25) on the road and hosts Tennessee (16).
South Carolina breaks conference play on Jan. 27 for its annual meeting with UConn, this year at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks have already met up with the Huskies once in the 2021-22 season, winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament title 73-57.
The Gamecocks’ SEC home opener against Ole Miss scheduled for Sunday was postponed. If they aren’t able to find another SEC opponent to fit in the schedule, they won’t play a home conference game until Jan. 9 against Kentucky.
Here’s what to know about the current state of SEC women’s basketball, in order of South Carolina’s schedule.
Missouri (Dec. 30 in Columbia, Mo.)
Missouri (11-2) hosts the Gamecocks in the conference-opener for both squads. The Tigers’ best win through the non-conference was a 76-70 opener over Murray State, as they lost to the only two teams they played with a NET below 100. Mizzou took AP No. 5 Baylor to the wire on Dec. 4 in Waco, Texas, missing a last-second jump shot in a 70-68 loss.
NET: 49
Watch: SEC Network at 7 p.m. Thursday
LSU (Jan. 6 in Baton Rouge, La.)
Kim Mulkey’s first LSU squad since making the jump from Baylor went 12-1 in non-conference play and cracked the top 20 by Week 8, and the Tigers jumped into the national landscape with a win over then-No. 14 Iowa State on Dec. 2. LSU’s lone loss came to Florida Gulf Coast, a team that’s hovered around the AP Top 25 throughout the 2021-22 season.
NET: 23
Watch: SEC Network Plus at 8 p.m. Jan. 6
Kentucky (Jan. 9 in Columbia, SC; Feb. 10 in Lexington, Ky.)
Kentucky (7-3) has preseason All-American and projected top WNBA draft pick Rhyne Howard, which makes the Wildcats a formidable threat despite its three losses and above-40 NET. The Wildcats defeated West Virginia, which had a brief stint in the first month of the AP top 25. Kentucky lost to both ranked teams they faced in non-conference, No. 8 Indiana and No. 7 Louisville, as well as DePaul, a Big East program with a net of 45. The Wildcats’ first SEC game against Auburn was postponed due to COVID-19 in the Tigers’ program.
NET: 43
Watch: ESPN at 1 p.m. Jan. 9; ESPN at 7 p.m. Feb. 10
Texas A&M (Jan. 13 in Columbia, SC; Feb. 24 in College Station, Texas)
Texas A&M (10-2) has stuck around the AP Top 25 since the preseason. Head coach Gary Blair has led the Aggies to wins over DePaul, South Dakota (46 NET) and Northwestern (66) while losing to then-No. 15 Texas and TCU in December. Guard Kayla Wells leads the team with 17.5 points and was named to the preseason All-SEC second team.
NET: 27
Watch: SEC Network at 7 p.m. Jan. 13; SEC Network at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 24
Arkansas (Jan. 16 in Fayetteville, Ark.)
Arkansas (10-3) played through its non-conference schedule handling business against lower-level opponents and falling to programs with a NET better than 30 — UConn (11), Creighton (28) and UCF (36). The Razorbacks kept it close with the Knights, losing by 1 point, and has potential with guard Makayla Daniels. The junior is averaging 15 points per game on 50% from the field through 13 games.
NET: 25
Watch: SEC Network or ESPN2 at 3 p.m. Jan. 16
Vanderbilt (Jan. 24 in Columbia, SC)
Vanderbilt (8-5) is near the bottom end of the conference with an above-70 NET and a double-digit loss to Little Rock (141 NET) as one of its five losses. The Commodores did, however, hang around with undefeated Arizona, which played in the national championship last year. The Wildcats had to shoot a buzzer-beating layup for a 48-46 win over Vanderbilt in November.
NET: 76
Watch: SEC Network at 7 p.m. Jan. 24
Florida (Jan. 30 in Gainesville, Fla.)
Barely below 100 in the latest NET, Florida (10-3) is the lowest-ranked SEC team according to the metric. In non-conference play, the Gators were defeated by George Mason (246) and suffered a 17-point loss to Towson as well as a 33-point loss to N.C. State, the only team it faced ranked in the AP Top 25. The Gators recorded a 14-point win over Florida State, which had been garnering some votes in the AP poll, but the 6-5 Seminoles are in the midst of a 3-game losing streak that takes away some of the victory’s teeth.
NET: 98
Watch: SEC Network at noon Jan. 30
Alabama (Feb. 3 in Columbia, SC)
Alabama (9-2) didn’t face many challenges in its non-conference schedule, though one of the Crimson Tide’s losses was by just 3 points to top-15 Duke before the Blue Devils were ranked. Alabama’s loss to Tulane, 101 in the NET, was less understandable, and its last two non-conference games against Little Rock and Winthrop in December were canceled due to COVID-19.
NET: 34
Watch: SEC Network Plus at 7 p.m. Feb. 3
Mississippi State (Feb. 6 in Columbia, SC)
Mississippi State (9-3) lost to most of its quality opponents in the non-conference, including a 16-point loss to then-No. 12 Michigan and a 31-point loss to Oklahoma. The Bulldogs were also defeated by above-100 Troy by 7 points, though they did earn a win over South Dakota State, the reigning Summit League regular season champions ranked 64 in the NET. The Bulldogs had to postpone their conference opener against Florida due to COVID-19 issues.
NET: 75
Watch: ESPN2 at 2 p.m. Feb. 6
Georgia (Feb. 13 in Athens, Ga.)
Head coach Joni Taylor has Georgia (11-1) looking like one of South Carolina’s toughest conference competitors through the Bulldogs’ non-conference performance. Georgia upset then-No. 2 N.C. State at home in overtime, pulled off a win against Notre Dame (13 NET) in overtime at a neutral site game, and has handled the bulk of their 2021-22 slate to this point with ease. The Bulldogs’ lone loss came to Georgia Tech, when they fell by just 1 point on Dec. 5.
NET: 14
Watch: ESPN2 at noon Feb. 13
Auburn (Feb. 17 in Columbia, SC)
Auburn (8-3) lost to three teams ranked 75 or worst in the NET, but pulled off an eye-popping upset of top 25 Georgia Tech in a 59-51 victory in November at the Yellow Jackets’ home court. Still, the Tigers, which won’t get to play their SEC opener Thursday against Kentucky due to COVID-19 issues, didn’t build consistency throughout the non-conference slate.
NET: 89
Watch: SEC Network at 7 p.m. Feb. 17
Tennessee (Feb. 20 in Columbia, SC)
Tennessee (11-1) tallied two wins over ranked opponents in the non-conference, including an overtime win over No. 12 Texas. The Volunteers kept it closer than the final 74-63 score in their lone loss to Stanford may lead one to believe. Head coach Kellie Harper has kept Tennessee in the AP top 10 without star Rae Burrell since early November, with Burrell’s timetable to return from injury unknown.
NET: 16
Watch: ESPN2 at noon Feb. 20
Ole Miss (Feb. 27 in Oxford, Miss.)
Ole Miss (12-1) got off to a sour start with a season-opening loss to Belmont, but the Rebels have since bounced back to a 12-game win streak before SEC play. Fourth-year head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin led Ole Miss to a 61-53 upset win over then-No. 18 South Florida in the West Palm Beach Invitational on Dec. 21. The Rebels were then forced to postpone its conference opener against Arkansas as well as its first matchup scheduled for Sunday against South Carolina due to COVID-19 issues. The two are still scheduled to meet on Feb. 27 in Oxford.
NET: 37
Watch: ESPN2 at 2 p.m. Feb. 27
