Where South Carolina WBB stands in ESPN bracketology before final week of season
South Carolina women’s basketball has two games remaining in the regular season.
The No. 3-ranked Gamecocks (27-2, 13-1 SEC) already clinched one banner this past weekend when a win over Ole Miss delivered USC its fifth-straight SEC regular-season title.
Dawn Staley and South Carolina will soon be turning their attention to the postseason. And the closer we get to Selection Sunday, the more frequently NCAA Tournament projections will be released and updated.
ESPN pundit Charlie Creme has South Carolina as one of four No. 1 seeds in his latest bracketology, released Tuesday morning.
The Gamecocks are still ranked third overall by Creme — behind UConn and UCLA — and would host the first two rounds of the tournament in Columbia.
Should South Carolina advance, the Gamecocks would be lined up to play the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds in “Fort Worth Region 3,” per ESPN’s projections. The NCAA Tournament regionals are being played in Fort Worth and Sacramento this year.
A look at the region
While South Carolina is in the same spot it was in last week’s bracketology, there’s been plenty of movement in the rest of its region. Only three teams from last week’s projection of Fort Worth Region 3 are still in the region in ESPN’s latest projections.
Villanova, Colorado and Georgia are those three teams. Villanova and Colorado remained stagnant at the No. 9 seed and No. 12 seed, respectively. Meanwhile, Georgia saw its projection improve from the No. 7 seed last week to the No. 6 seed this week.
The Bulldogs are the lone team in this projected region South Carolina has already played this season.
As the No. 1 seed, South Carolina would host three other teams in Columbia. The Gamecocks’ first-round matchup is currently projected to be against the winner of a First four game between No. 16 seeds Alabama A&M and Chattanooga. A second-round matchup between the winner of No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 Villanova would await South Carolina in the Round of 32 .
The toughest opponents in South Carolina’s hypothetical region project to be No. 2 seed Iowa and No. 3 seed Duke. The Hawkeyes are 22-5 and ranked No. 9 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Blue Devils had a slow start to the season but have worked their way back into the top 15 in the last few weeks.
Region 3 - Forth Worth
Here’s a look at the entire Forth Worth 3 Region from ESPN’s latest bracketology projections:
Columbia
No. 1 South Carolina
No. 16 Alabama A&M / No. 16 Chattanooga
No. 8 Oregon
No. 9 Villanova
East Lansing
No. 5 North Carolina
No. 12 Mississippi State / No. 12 Colorado
No. 4 Michigan State
No. 13 Green Bay
Durham
No. 6 Georgia
No. 11 Fairfield
No. 3 Duke
No. 14 McNeese
Iowa City
No. 7 NC State
No. 10 N Dakota State
No. 2 Iowa
No. 15 LMU
