No surprise here, South Carolina tops the preseason women's basketball rankings

The South Carolina women's basketball season is almost upon us, and the Gamecocks have one thing on their mind...a three-peat.

In all of the way-to-early preseason polls throughout the offseason, the Gamecocks have topped every single one, and the official AP Top 25 poll is no different. Head coach Dawn Staley and her squad are picking up right where they were left off last season at the top of the poll after winning their second straight National Championship.

Staley and her squad know that they have a big target on their back as the top team everyone is going to want to take down this season. The Gamecocks are currently on a 38-win streak dating back to the start of last season.

South Carolina was surprisingly not the unanimous No. 1 team, only receiving 27 of 30 first-place votes. The Gamecocks will bring back four of their five starters from last season and have one of the top recruiting classes in the country.

Only once in the last five seasons has South Carolina not been ranked No. 1 heading into the season. In the 2023-2024 season, the Gamecocks were ranked No. 6 at the start but made their way to No. 1 and were never dethroned.

The Gamecocks played in the first of their two exhibition games this season against Memphis on Tuesday, October 15. South Carolina showed their true dominance over the rest of women's college basketball by taking down the Tigers 106-63 with the game practically being over by the end of the first half.

Fans will be able to catch the Gamecocks one more time before the official start of the season when they take on Clayton State on Monday, October 28 at home in Columbia, South Carolina at 7:00 p.m. EST.