SN 140: Ranking the greatest women’s college basketball teams of all time, including UConn, Tennessee and South Carolina originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The 2025-26 UConn women’s basketball team needs two more victories at the Women’s Final Four to cap off a perfect 40-0 season.
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The previous 10 NCAA women’s basketball national champions all made our list of the Greatest Women’s College Basketball Teams of All Time as part of Sporting News’ 140th anniversary celebration. UConn has six unbeaten teams in the top 15 in an almost impossible list of perfection to sort out.
Tennessee and South Carolina each have two teams on the list; a testament to coaches Pat Summitt and Dawn Staley. Kim Mulkey made the list as a player and coach. This list features dominant teams from all eras, but the Huskies’ presence looms the largest.
Which teams made the cut? We weighed in the average margin of victory, the national championship games and the WBCA Coaches’ All-Americans on each team.
SN 140: Greatest men’s basketball teams|All-time men’s All-America team | All-time women’s All-America team
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These are the greatest teams of all time:
MORE: SN’s 2026 Women’s All-America team
Greatest women’s college basketball teams of all time
15. USC (1983-84)
Coach: Linda Sharp
Record: 29-4
Margin of victory: +16.7
Championship game: No. 1 USC 72, No. 3 Tennessee 61
All-Americans: Cheryl Miller, Pamela McGee
The Trojans won the national championship in 1982-83 with a 31-2 record, but this team was better. Miller – a sophomore who went on to be a four-time All-American and scored 3,018 career points – averaged 22 points and 10.6 rebounds. All-Americans Pamela McGee and Paula McGee also were dominant players, and Cynthia Cooper added 4.4 assists per game off the bench.
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14. Tennessee (2007-08)
Coach: Pat Summitt
Record: 36-2
Margin of victory: +26.6
All-Americans: Candace Parker
NCAA title game: No. 1 Tennessee 64, No. 2 Stanford 48
This team followed the 2006-07 national championship team and weathered the pressure of winning back-to-back national titles under Summitt. Candace Parker earned All-America honors for the third straight season and won the Naismith Award. She averaged 21.3 points and 8.5 rebounds. The Vols finished with a 17-2 record against ranked teams. Parker had 17 points, nine rebounds and four steals in the national championship games against Stanford.
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13. UConn (2008-09)
Coach: Geno Auriemma
Record: 39-0
Margin of victory: +30.2
Championship game: No. 1 UConn 76, No. 3 Louisville 54
All-Americans: Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery
Moore emerged as the Naismith Award winner with 19.3 points and 8.9 rebounds, and the Huskies won three top-10 showdowns in the regular season and finished with a 16-0 record in the Big East. Charles (16.5 ppg., 8.9 rpg.) and Montgomery (16.5 ppg., 5.1 apg.) also were dominant players on the Huskies’ on a national championship team that beat Louisville three times that season.
12. Louisiana Tech (1981-82)
Coach: Sonja Hogg
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Record: 35-1
Margin of victory: +33.9
Championship game: No. 1 Louisiana Tech 76, No. 2 Cheyney 62
All-Americans: Pam Kelly, Angela Turner
The Bulldogs were the first women’s basketball national champion recognized by the NCAA, and that keeps them on this list. Hogg coached a team that won with Kelly – a 6-foot center who averaged 20.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. Turner averaged 10.4 points, and sophomore guard Kim Mulkey averaged 5.6 points and 5.6 assists. The Bulldogs beat Kentucky and Tennessee in the tournament.
11. South Carolina (2021-22)
Coach: Dawn Staley
Record: 35-2
Margin of victory: +32.5
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Championship game: No. 1 South Carolina 64, No. 2 UConn 49
All-Americans: Aaliyah Boston
The Gamecocks lost two games by a combined total of three points – a one-point loss at Missouri and a two-point loss to Kentucky in the SEC tournament. Otherwise, this South Carolina team would have a strong case for No. 1. Boston – the Naismith Award winner – averaged 16.8 points and 12.5 rebounds on a team that featured nine future WNBA players, including Destanni Henderson (11.5 ppg.) and Zia Cooke (10.7 ppg.). Henderson scored 26 points, and Boston had 11 points and 16 rebounds in the national championship victory against UConn.
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10. UConn (2009-10)
Coach: Geno Auriemma
Record: 39-0
Margin of victory: +34.8
Championship game: No. 1 UConn 53, No. 1 Stanford 47
All-Americans: Maya Moore, Tina Charles
The Huskies repeated with Moore and Charles with a team that limited teams to a school-record 46.2 points per game. Charles (18.2 ppg., 9.5 rpg.) won the Naismith Award, and Moore (18.9 ppg., 9.3 rpg.) was a dominant force as a junior. Senior guard Kalana Green averaged 11.4 ppg. UConn finished 17-0 against ranked opponents and never gave up 70 points in a game the entire season.
9. Texas (1985-86)
Coach: Jody Conradt
Record: 34-0
Margin of victory: +26.6
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Championship game: No. 1 Texas 97, No. 1 USC 81
All-Americans: Kamie Ethridge
The Longhorns ended USC’s hopes for three national championships in four seasons with Cheryl Miller. Ethridge – a two-time All-American point guard who averaged 6.1 assists– was the catalyst for the Southwest Conference champions. Five Texas players were All-Americans at some point in their career, including Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil, Beverly Williams, Annette Smith and Andrea Lloyd-Curry. It remains the Longhorns’ only national championship team.
8. UConn (1994-95)
Coach: Geno Auriemma
Record: 35-0
Margin of victory: +33.1
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Championship game: No. 1 UConn 70, No. 1 Tennessee 64
All-Americans: Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti
This is the team that launched the Auriemma dynasty at UConn. Lobo averaged 17.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks as a dominant post player alongside 6-foot-7 center Kara Wolters (15.2 ppg.). Rizzotti (12.5 ppg.), Nykesha Sales (11.4 ppg.) and Jamelle Elliott (10.9 ppg.) also averaged double figures. The Huskies rallied from a six-point halftime deficit against No. 1 Tennessee in the national championship game. Lobo led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds.
7. UConn (2013-14)
Coach: Geno Auriemma
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Record: 40-0
Margin of victory: +34.2
Championship game: No. 1 UConn 79, No. 1 Notre Dame 58
All-Americans: Breanna Stewart, Stefanie Dotson, Bria Hartley
Stewart – a sophomore – won the first of three consecutive Naismith Awards in leading the Huskies to a single-season record 40 victories under Auriemma. Hartley (16.4 ppg.) and Dotson (12.5 ppg.) also were key pieces on a team that beat No. 7 Baylor 66-55 and continued its run of dominance through the NCAA Tournament, where they won every game by 15 points or more.
6. Baylor (2011-12)
Coach: Kim Mulkey
Record: 40-0
Margin of victory: +26.3
Championship game: No. 1 Baylor 80, No. 1 Notre Dame 61
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All-Americans: Brittney Griner, Odyssey Sims
The Bears featured Griner, a 6-foot-8 center who averaged 23.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.2 blocks in her junior season. Sims averaged 14.9 points, 4.4 assists and 3.0 steals. Griner had 25 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks in a 66-61 victory against No. 2 UConn on Dec. 18, 2011. Baylor limited opposing teams to 52.1 points per game, and they went through Tennessee, Stanford and Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament to win the program’s second of three national championships under Mulkey.
5. Old Dominion (1979-80)
Coach: Marianne Stanley
Record: 37-1
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Margin of victory: +29.9
Championship game: Old Dominion 68, Tennessee 53
All-Americans: Nancy Lieberman, Inge Nissen
Lieberman – who was known then as “Lady Magic” – was one of three players on the roster who scored more than 2,000 career points along with Nissen and Anne Donovan. Lieberman averaged an incredible 8.8 steals per game that season. Old Dominion lost 76-66 to the Soviet Union national team in an exhibition game on Dec. 14. The Monarchs won the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women tournament – the precursor to the NCAA women’s tournament – with a convincing victory against Tennessee.
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4. South Carolina (2023-24)
Coach: Dawn Staley
Record: 38-0
Margin of victory: +28.9
Championship game: No. 1 South Carolina 87, No. 1 Iowa 75
All-Americans: Kamilla Cardoso, Te-Hina Paopao
The Gamecocks won their third national championship under Staley in a season where the sport’s popularity took off. Nine players averaged at least six points per game for a team that averaged 84.5 points per game. Cardoso – a 6-foot-7 center who averaged 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds. South Carolina beat UConn in the regular season, defending national champion LSU in the SEC tournament and closed that perfect season with a victory against Iowa and Caitlin Clark in the most-watched women’s national championship game of all time.
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3. UConn (2015-16)
Coach: Geno Auriemma
Record: 38-0
Margin of victory: +39.7
Championship game: No. 1 UConn 82, No. 4 Syracuse 51
All-Americans: Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, Morgan Tuck
The Huskies continued their run to a fourth consecutive national championship, and this is the best team in terms of margin of victory on the list. Stewart – who averaged 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists – led a dominant team that had seven players average at least six points per game. Tuck (13.7 ppg.) and Jefferson (12.6 ppg.) emerged as All-American players, and freshman Katie Lee Samuelson (11.0 ppg.) was part of what might have been Auriemma’s deepest team at UConn. A 66-54 victory against No. 2 South Carolina in the regular season was a highlight, and the Huskies won their tournament games by an average of 39.8 points per game.
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2. Tennessee (1997-98)
Coach: Pat Summitt
Record: 39-0
Margin of victory: +30.1
All-Americans: Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings
NCAA title game: No. 1 Tennessee 93, No. 3 Louisiana Tech 75
Summitt won eight national championships, and this was her only perfect team. The Volunteers had star power with Holdsclaw, a junior who averaged 23.5 points and 8.4 rebounds. Holdsclaw would go on to be the No. 1 pick in the 1999 WNBA Draft. Catchings (18.2 ppg., 8.0 rpg.) and Semeka Randall Lay (15.9 ppg., 5.3 rpg.) were also star players on a dominant team. Catchings had 27 points and Holdsclaw added 25 points in the national championship game against Louisiana Tech.
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1. UConn (2001-02)
Coach: Geno Auriemma
Record: 39-0
Margin of victory: +35.4
Championship game: No. 1 UConn 82, No. 2 Oklahoma 70
All-Americans: Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi
This is the closest thing to a college basketball Dream Team. Bird, Cash, Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams were all taken within the first six picks of the 2002 WNBA Draft. Bird won the Naismith Award with 14.4 points and 5.9 assists per game, and Taurasi – a sophomore – averaged 14.5 points and 5.9 assists. Cash (14.9 ppg.), Jones (14.0 ppg.) and Williams (10.1 ppg.) also averaged double figures. The Huskies were a wire-to-wire No. 1 and punctuated the regular season with a 86-72 victory against No. 2 Oklahoma. The Huskies beat the Vols 79-56 in the Final Four before taking down the Sooners for the national championship game.
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Honorable mention
Texas Tech (1992-93)
Sheryl Swoopes averaged 28.1 points per game and scored a tournament-record 47 points in the 84-82 victory against No. 1 Ohio State in the national championship game. The Red Raiders finished 31-3 under coach Marsha Sharp.
Notre Dame (2017-18)
All-American guard Arike Ogunbowale hit back-to-back buzzer-beaters in the 2018 Final Four against UConn and Mississippi State to get Muffet McGraw her second national title with the Irish in a 34-3 season.
Stanford (1989-90)
Two-time All-American Jennifer Azzi led Tara VanDerVeer’s best team – one that finished 32-1. Future All-Americans Sonja Henning and Val Whiting-Raymond also were star players for the Cardinal, which beat No. 2 Auburn 88-81 in the national championship game.
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LSU (2022-23)
All-American forward Angel Reese averaged 23 points and 15.4 rebounds. The Tigers finished 34-2 under coach Kim Mulkey and defeated Caitlin Clark-led Iowa 102-85 in the national championship game.
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