Dawn Staley, South Carolina learn NCAA path. Clemson among teams coming to Columbia
The March Madness bracket for women’s basketball is set. South Carolina’s road to the Final Four in Phoenix will start in Columbia and run through California.
The 2026 NCAA Tournament schedule was unveiled Sunday night, with Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks (31-3) the fourth overall team in the bracket behind UConn, UCLA and Texas. South Carolina is the No. 1 seed in Sacramento Region 4.
“I think it played out the way it’s supposed to play out,” Staley said. “We were in control of our own destiny, and we didn’t take care of that. But Sacramento isn’t a bad place.”
The Gamecocks will host the first two rounds of the tournament Saturday and Monday at Colonial Life Arena. If they win twice and advance, USC would play its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Sacramento.
USC and Columbia will host four other teams at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks will play at 1 p.m. Saturday (ABC) against a No. 16 seed — the winner of a First Four game between Southern and Samford.
“I think the work that you put in throughout the season and the body of work that you put together, that you’ll be able to host, it gives you an advantage,” Staley said. “It gives us a double advantage, because we lead the nation in attendance, and no matter whether it’s the NCAA Tournament or just another not-well-known opponent, the fans are going to show up. So we’ve had that support, and we look forward to seeing them feel Colonial Life Arena like they think they have all season long.”
South Carolina, assuming an opening-round victory, would play the winner of No. 8 seed Clemson (21-11) and No. 9 seed Southern Cal (17-13) on Monday in the Round of 32. The Gamecocks already have wins over both of those teams this season — 65-37 over Clemson on Nov. 11, and 69-52 over Southern Cal on Nov. 15.
The First Four game will be played at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2) at Colonial Life Arena. Clemson and Southern Cal play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2).
Staley said the Gamecocks can only rely so much on their previous matchups with Clemson and Southern Cal when preparing for the second-round matchup.
“You pretty much have to wipe the slate clean,” Staley said. “We’re all different teams. We’re much better than we were back in November ... they’re much better now that March is here. So we’re not gonna leave any stone unturned. We’re gonna try to put together some game plans that can get us out of the first round and on to the second, and hopefully we’ll approach it in the same way.”
So who are the other best teams in Sacramento Region 4? Iowa (26-6) is the No. 2 seed in South Carolina’s corner of the bracket. TCU (29-5) is No. 3 and Oklahoma (24-7) is No. 4.
Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center is the site of two NCAA regionals (Regions 3 and 4). Fort Worth, Texas will host the other two March Madness regionals (Regions 1 and 2). The NCAA has used two regional sites for the women’s tournament since 2023 in an effort to boost attendance. (The NCAA men’s tournament still uses four regional sites.)
The Final Four games will be played April 3 at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, with the national championship on April 5.
South Carolina’s season, NCAA history
This is the 15th NCAA Tournament appearance for South Carolina under Staley and the 22nd overall in program history. It’s the sixth-straight year the Gamecocks are a No. 1 seed and the 10th time in program history.
South Carolina won its fifth-consecutive SEC regular-season title after finishing the regular season 15-1 in conference play. The Gamecocks are No. 3 in the NET rankings behind only UConn and UCLA and have a 12-3 record in Quad 1 games.
USC touts 11 wins over ranked opponents this year, including LSU (twice), Texas, Louisville and double-digit point wins over Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. South Carolina lost to Texas twice this season, including in the SEC Tournament championship game.
South Carolina is attempting to make its sixth-consecutive Final Four. USC has won three national championships in its program history, all under Staley. The first came in 2017, the next in 2022 and the Gamecocks went undefeated last season to clinch its third title.
This story was originally published March 15, 2026 at 8:36 PM.
