South Carolina national championship odds: Gamecocks enter tournament as an underdogs

South Carolina is back dancing in March, and the Gamecocks earned the No. 1 seed in the Regional 4 in Sacramento. Despite the Gamecocks losing four starters from last season, South Carolina enters the 2026 NCAA Tournament sitting at 31-3. 

The Gamecocks' three losses came at the hands of Texas twice—once during the regular season and in the SEC Tournament final—and a 94-82 road loss in overtime to Oklahoma. 

Funny enough, the Sooners are in South Carolina's region in Sacramento, as are two other teams the Gamecocks' beat during the regular season in No. 8 Clemson and No. 9 USC, who will face off in the first round. 

With three regular-season losses, the 2025-26 season might not be as dominant as we've seen from previous Dawn Staley teams. But this team, led by forward Joyce Edwards and guard Raven Johnson, could have a bit of a chip on its shoulder entering the tournament. The Gamecocks are eager to prove losing by double digits to Texas in the SEC final was just a fluke.

Let's take a look at how the oddsmakers view South Carolina's chances at a fourth national championship. As you will see, the oddsmakers are heavily favoring the likes of UConn, UCLA and Texas ahead of the Gamecocks. 

DraftKings: (+800)
DraftKings Sportsbook puts South Carolina behind UConn (-265), UCLA (-550) and Texas (+700). 

FanDuel: (+850) 
At FanDuel, the Gamecocks are behind UConn (-310), UCLA (+500) and have the same odds as Texas at (+850).    guards , this one

BetMGM: (+900) ​
Over at BetMGM, the oddmakers once again are favorite UConn (-275), UCLA (+500) and Texas (+650) over the Gamecocks, who have the fourth-best odds to win it all. 

The last time South Carolina lost in the SEC Tournament final was in 2022, when the Gamecocks won Staley's second national title in Columbia. The Gamecocks head coach reminded her team of this afer the loss, and added that the loss might help her team moving forward.  

​​"This might've been the very thing this team needs," Staley said via Greenville Online. "It's not what I would've thought yesterday, coming into today. But now that we're here and it's a reality, we search for things that have a connection and could give our team what it needs to make this run for a national championship."

As far as Vegas is concerned, it clearly likes other teams than South Carolina to win it all.