For the fifth time in the past seven years, South Carolina will head into the women’s college basketball season as the top-ranked team. South Carolina earned the top spot in the first preseason top-25 poll by the Associated Press, the organization revealed Tuesday.

The Gamecocks received 23 of 31 possible first-place votes, dominating the competition. UConn slotted into second and received six votes. USC was the only other team to receive first-place votes, earning two of them.

Here’s how the full top-25 shook out:

2026-27 AP Preseason Poll

1. South Carolina

2. UConn

3. USC

4. Duke

5. Michigan

6. Texas

7. Louisville

8. Vanderbilt

9. LSU

10. Iowa

11. UCLA

12. North Carolina

13. Notre Dame

14. Kentucky

15. TCU

16. Washington

17. Minnesota

18. Ohio State

19. Ole Miss

20. Maryland

21. Oklahoma

22. Oklahoma State

23. Illinois

24. West Virginia

25. NC State

South Carolina’s placement at No. 1 shouldn’t come as a major surprise. Under head coach Dawn Staley, the team has experienced a run of near-unprecedented success. That continued last season, when South Carolina made it all the way to the NCAA Tournament final, where it lost to UCLA. It was the second-straight season in which South Carolina lost in the championship game.

Staley told the Associated Press she considers the ranking both a “gift and curse.”

"It's a gift and curse," Staley said. "I tend to not look at the number, but our players do. They look at it and feel like there's a sense of respect to being No. 1. They also know that it's pressure packed with the type of non-conference schedule we have, we're going to be challenged. If we stand there at No. 1 at the end of our non-conference season that's something to be truly to be proud of."

Staley was right to call out the team’s schedule. South Carolina will open the season with two ranked opponents, playing No. 20 Maryland on Nov. 2 and No. 12 North Carolina on Nov. 8. A week later, they’ll play No. 3 USC.

Before the month is out, South Carolina will take on No. 2 UConn on Nov. 24. UConn, led by head coach Geno Auriemma, is — unsurprisingly — once again a threat to win it all. The game should draw plenty of attention, as it marks the first time since the 2025 NCAA Tournament that both teams will sqaure off. South Carolina won that contest, which ended in some post-game fireworks from Auriemma and Staley. Auriemma apologized for his actions following the game. Staley later said the two spoke and urged fans to turn the page on the altercation.

No. 3 ranked USC didn’t go as far in the NCAA Tournament last season, but there was a good reason for that. Star guard JuJu Watkins missed the entire season due to a torn ACL. Watkins is back this season and her presence is expected to lift an already strong USC roster to a true championship contender.