GREENVILLE — South Carolina women’s basketball picked up its third straight SEC tournament championship win on Sunday, defeating No. 2 seed Texas 64-45.
The No. 1 Gamecocks (30-3) now wait to see where they will land in the NCAA tournament, which begins on March 19. Selection Sunday is March 16.
Texas and South Carolina finished as co- regular-season SEC champions and were 1-1 in the regular season, which meant Sunday’s conference championship carried extra weight.
With the dominant win, South Carolina may have enough to get the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
Here’s how the win affects South Carolina’s seeding for March Madness.
How South Carolina win vs Texas impacts Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament seed
Before the loss, ESPN’s Charlie Creme had Texas projected as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament as of 10 p.m. ET Saturday.
South Carolina is above Texas in the NET rankings and is behind only UConn, which has been projected as a No. 2 seed.
The top four seeds in the past three days have been looking like South Carolina, UCLA, Southern Cal and Texas, but now it’s a matter of whether Sunday’s title win did enough to push the Gamecocks above Texas for the top overall seed.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley made her argument after the game, citing the strength of schedule as a huge factor.
FULL COMMENTS: Why Dawn Staley says South Carolina deserves No. 1 overall seed in March Madness after winning SEC tournament
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women’s basketball bracketology after beating Texas
