The transfer portal has closed, the coaching carousel has stopped spinning, spring meetings are over and the summer recruiting circuit is underway.
Before we know it, the 2026-27 women’s college basketball season will be here.
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Teams are just beginning to finalize and release their non-conference schedules for the upcoming season, and there’s already several enticing matchups.
One of the premier events that’s returning is the Ally Tipoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, which will feature a doubleheader matchup that includes North Carolina vs. South Carolina and NC State vs. Kentucky. The organizers haven’t set the date yet, but expect to see it pop up in early November and be broadcast on an ESPN platform.
Dates for other marquee matchups are already locked in. UConn will host Iowa on Nov. 8, while Tennessee will face Baylor in Nashville on Dec. 18. UConn will also make a trip to Nashville this season to face LSU.
Looking ahead, these are the 10 non-conference games that women’s basketball fans should circle on their calendars:
Notre Dame vs. Villanova
Rome, Italy: Nov. 1
The season begins when Hannah Hidalgo takes the Fighting Irish abroad for an audience with the Pope.
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Coming off a season in which she powered Notre Dame to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019, Hidalgo is primed for a strong senior campaign and will be eyeing her third consecutive ACC Player of the Year award. Should she win it, she’ll join an elite group of players to secure the honor three times, joining Alana Beard, Alyssa Thomas and Elizabeth Kitley.
After a trip to the NCAA Tournament, Villanova returns Canadian national team guard Jasmine Bascoe, who led the Big East in scoring in conference play with 19.5 points per game.
North Carolina vs. Oklahoma
Paris, France: Nov. 2
For the fourth consecutive season, women’s college basketball returns to the City of Light. This one is a double-header featuring the Tar Heels vs. Sooners and South Carolina vs. Maryland.
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The clash between North Carolina and Oklahoma could be a bit more intriguing as it features a backcourt matchup between Aaliyah Chavez and arguably the top incoming freshman in the nation, Kate Harpring. The daughter of a former NBA player, Harpring was named the Naismith and Morgan Wooten High School Player of the Year and is ranked as the fourth-best recruit in the 2026 class by ESPN. Harpring is expected to be a big contributor right away for North Carolina, while Chavez leads the Sooners into a post-Raegan Beers era.
Davidson, North Carolina: Nov. 5
This will be one the first early glances at a new-look Virginia squad after their magical run to the Sweet 16 last season. All-ACC standout Kymora Johnson returns after dancing with the transfer portal, while Aaron Roussell takes the reins of the Cavaliers after taking Richmond to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
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Roussell will return to his old stomping grounds in the Atlantic 10 Conference when he takes his Virginia team into Belk Arena for a matchup with the Wildcats. Following resets at Richmond and Rhode Island, Davidson could be a contender for the A-10 title this season. Under Gayle Coats Fulks, the Wildcats have won double-digit games in A-10 play in each of the past two seasons, and sharpshooter Katie Donovan returns to lead the diverse squad full of international talent.
South Carolina vs. USC
Greenville, South Carolina: Nov. 15
The second of a two-game series between the Trojans and the Gamecocks, this matchup will be played on South Carolina’s turf at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, about 100 miles northwest of its campus in Columbia. South Carolina won this matchup comfortably in Los Angeles last season, but superstar guard JuJu Watkins will be in uniform this time, back from the injury that sidelined her all of last season. Also returning for USC is Jazzy Davidson, who won the USBWA’s Tamika Catchings Award for being the nation’s top freshman last season.
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South Carolina was without a few key players last season too, but Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins will be back to reinforce the Gamecocks’ frontcourt after a year on the sidelines.
UConn vs. South Carolina
Uncasville, Connecticut: Nov. 24
Geno Auriemma’s Huskies started last season 38-0 before being upset by Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks at the Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona. This will be the first meeting since that game, which ended with a regrettable tantrum from Auriemma. It’s a result that reigning National Player of the Year Sarah Strong hasn’t forgotten. While Azzi Fudd is gone from the Huskies, they did bring in the nation’s second-ranked recruit, Olivia Vukosa.
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For South Carolina, reproving its status as a contender again after losing in the national title game could begin with a win over UConn on the Huskies’ turf.
UConn vs. Duke
Boston: Nov. 28
Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils will meet Auriemma’s Huskies for the first time since the 2024 Sweet 16. This time, it’ll be inside a venue where Lawson got one of her first big breaks as a coach, getting an assistant gig with the NBA’s Boston Celtics.
Lawson has quickly elevated the Duke program, guiding the Blue Devils to back-to-back ACC Tournament titles and two consecutive trips to the Elite Eight. Duke will be led by All-ACC talent Toby Fournier in the front court, but is searching for its new stars in the backcourt after seeing Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair drafted by WNBA teams. Fournier going head-to-head with UConn’s Strong under the basket will be a matchup to watch.
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LSU vs. North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Dec. 2
One of the headlining games in this season’s ACC-SEC Challenge, this will mark LSU’s first-ever trip to the historic Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, the gym where Michael Jordan began his rise to stardom. This will also be the first-ever meeting between teams coached by Kim Mulkey and Courtney Banghart. Both coaches led their teams to the Sweet 16 last season, where Mulkey’s Tigers lost on a buzzer beater to Duke and Banghart’s Tar Heels were outmatched by UConn.
LSU will be figuring itself out in its post-Flau’Jae Johnson era, but returns big-time contributors in Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley. Mulkey also added another talented guard in the transfer portal, landing Jada Williams from Iowa State.
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North Carolina added a few strong reinforcements of its own in the transfer portal, getting Sophie Burrows from Syracuse, Achol Akot from Oklahoma State, Chloe Clardy from Stanford and Gabby White from Virginia.
Notre Dame vs. Vanderbilt
Nashville, Tennessee: Dec. 3
A rematch of an entertaining Sweet 16 game from this past season, Notre Dame’s Hidalgo will once again go head-to-head with SEC Player of the Year Mikayla Blakes, who led the nation in scoring with 27 points per game.
Under National Coach of the Year winner Shea Ralph, the Commodores are coming off one of their best seasons ever, notching a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and winning a program-record 13 games in SEC play. In addition to Blakes, Vanderbilt also returns SEC Freshman of the Year Aubrey Galvan.
Arizona State vs. Gonzaga
Tempe, Arizona: Dec. 6
Arizona State exceeded expectations last season in Year 1 under Molly Miller, making the NCAA Tournament. The Sun Devils are now expected to be even better in her second season at the helm after Miller brought in a talented transfer class led by Ruby Whitehorn, All-Big Ten defender Rashunda Jones and MAC Player of the Year Madi Morson.
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Gonzaga flew a bit under the radar last season, but won the WCC Tournament and made March Madness, where they lost to Ole Miss in the opening round. Still, Lisa Fortier’s Bulldogs return two of the most talented players in the nation in Allie Turner and Lauren Whittaker. Turner led the nation in free throw percentage (95.6) and was second in 3-point shooting (47.1), while Whittaker was the only player in the nation to average at least 19 points, 10 rebounds and one 3-pointer per game last season.
Lexington, Kentucky: Dec. 9
One of the most intense in-state rivalries in college sports, the Cardinals and Wildcats will renew their series at Rupp Arena this season. Since taking the reins at Kentucky, Kenny Brooks is 2-0 in the Battle of the Bluegrass against Jeff Walz’s Louisville.
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The Wildcats this season return one of the most talented centers in the country in 6-foot-6 Clara Strack. The two-time All-SEC selection is coming off a season in which she averaged 16.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game — and also began to emerge as a 3-point threat — while powering Kentucky to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 10 years. Brooks also added Florida forward Me’Arah O’Neal and former WNBA draft pick Ajša Sivka.
Louisville returns its core of Tajiana Roberts, Elif Istanbulluoglu, Mackenly Randolph and ACC Sixth Player of the Year Imari Berry, who took the Cardinals to the Sweet 16 last season. Walz also landed ACC standouts in Zam Jones and Carys Baker in the transfer portal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Here are the best non-conference games in women’s college basketball
