COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball won’t play UConn during the 2025-26 regular season, which marks the first time in 11 years without the matchup.
The teams could still meet in the 2026 NCAA Tournament but either way, the series will resume in 2026 and 2027.
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The reason for no regular season matchup was outside of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley’s control. She explained that the series contract was not renewed for this season because the Big East shifted to 20 conference games, which made it hard to schedule.
There was a narrative that South Carolina avoided the series after going 0-2 against UConn last year, including the national championship game. But the Huskies already had a non-conference contract to follow through with Tennessee and Notre Dame.
“We’ve been accused of ducking and all that crap,” Staley said Nov. 6. “Like, come on, we played UConn for the past 11 seasons, now is time to duck? We could have ducked 7, 8, 9 years ago.”
South Carolina will play the UConn in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Nov. 24, 2026, at Mohegan Sun Arena in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase. In 2027, the two programs will play in the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Will South Carolina women’s basketball play UConn in 2026?
Before the 2025 title game, Staley was undefeated in national championship games and was the first coach to beat UConn’s Geno Auriemma in a title game.
Staley, who is in her 18th season, didn’t win against Auriemma until 2020. South Carolina won four straight from 2021-24.
Staley is 1-1 against Auriemma in national championship games and 5-10 against him overall.
The Gamecocks are 5-11 in the series, which is tied 2-2 in neutral site games. South Carolina beat UConn in Columbia in 2024, part of its undefeated season that ended with a national championship win.
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On Feb. 14, before South Carolina beat LSU 79-72 in Baton Rouge to become 25-2 (11-1 SEC), the NCAA Tournament committee posted its first in-season reveal of the top 16 seeds.
UConn was No. 1 overall and South Carolina was No. 3 overall, both No. 1 seeds.
There’ll be one more top 16 release on March 1 as the regular season comes to an end. The official bracket will be revealed on Selection Sunday on March 15.
Fort Worth 1 Region had UConn, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Fort Worth 3 Region was South Carolina, Louisville, Iowa, Michigan State which means if it stays, the Gamecocks and Huskies could meet in the Final Four but not national championship.
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One would have to beat the other to advance to the title game if they are in the same regional bracket.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Why South Carolina vs UConn isn’t on women’s basketball schedule
