Columbia, S.C. The path to yet another deep NCAA Tournament appearance by Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks is on paper. Friday, USC released its entire 202526 women’s basketball schedule, providing the first glimpse to the fans of the challenges, rivalries, and high-stakes games that will determine the season.
- Non-Conference Tests: Road-Heavy and Battle-Ready
- The End of an Era: No UConn Game for the First Time in 11 Years
- Coppin State Road Trip: A Mid-SEC Surprise
- SEC Play Familiar Foes, New Storylines
- Historical Context Sustained Dominance Under Staley
- What This Schedule Means
- Final Take: The Standard Remains the Standard
It will start on Oct. 30 with an exhibition game against North Carolina at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, a neutral-site game that will likely also serve as an early test of mettle among the nationwide contenders. Then the Colonial Life Arena will be deathly quiet until Nov. 3 when the Gamecocks begin regular-season play with a national game against Grand Canyon University led by former USC assistant Winston Gandy, who bolted Staley and his bench earlier this year to accept the head coaching bid at the Antelopes.
That opener is more than a game. It is a reunion. Gandy played in a formidable recent stretch of South Carolinian dominance, as the school won a championship season in 202324 with a perfect 382 record. He is back in Columbia this time with a hungry mid-major program.
Non-Conference Tests: Road-Heavy and Battle-Ready
The emotional turn comes with G.C.U. game itself, but the remainder of the non-conference USC schedule will prove to be a stringent exercise. The Gamecocks will play in the inaugural Players Era Championship in Las Vegas on Nov. 26-27, playing Duke in the opener before playing either UCLA or Texas, two other NCAA Tournament qualifiers a year ago.
USC will also road trip to take on Southern California (Nov. 15 in Los Angeles), Louisville (Dec. 4 as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge), South Florida (Dec. 18) and Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 20). Each is a program that recently played in the NCAA and a few are famous for beating ranked teams inside their arenas.
In the state, South Carolina will have classic rivals as well as non-conference opponents, such as Clemson (Nov. 11), Bowling Green (Nov. 7), N.C. Central (Dec. 7), Penn State (Dec. 14), Providence (Dec. 28), Winthrop (Nov. 19), and Queens (Nov. 23).
The End of an Era: No UConn Game for the First Time in 11 Years
This will be the first time in over ten years that a non-conference schedule will be played without the regular-season game with UConn. The game has become one of the marquee events in the sport and has frequently attracted national television viewers and affected NCAA Tournament seeding.
Breanna Stewart vs. To the bruising, high-tempo contests of last season, the rivalry added a distinctive electrical current to women’s basketball. The departure from the tradition this year disrupts the balance in the rhythm of the USC midseason and might even allow the establishment of a new annual rivalry to take place.
Coppin State Road Trip: A Mid-SEC Surprise
This is one of the more strange twists as the Jan. 18 game features USC playing at Coppin State. The Gamecocks usually do not interject a non-conference road game in the midst of conference play, but the scheduling could be a form of a reset before the most arduous portion of the SEC grind.
Coppin State is not a perennial powerhouse, but it will take this as a program-defining event, which is the kind of road trip that powerhouse programs have been caught unawares of in the past.
SEC Play Familiar Foes, New Storylines
USC’s SEC opener is set for Jan. 1 at home against Alabama. The Gamecocks will host other conference opponents, including Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Texas.
On the road, South Carolina will face Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. The Feb. 14 matchup at LSU will mark the first time USC faces MiLaysia Fulwiley since her transfer. The Valentine’s Day date is unusual; most SEC women’s games are on Sundays or Thursdays, but the storyline makes it one of the most anticipated matchups of the season.
Historical Context Sustained Dominance Under Staley
Since taking over in 2008, Dawn Staley has built South Carolina into a dynasty:
- 3 National Championships (2017, 2022, 2024)
- 9 SEC regular-season titles
- Multiple 30+ win seasons
- Five straight Final Four appearances (2021–2025)
The Gamecocks’ dominance at home is staggering. They haven’t lost a home opener in over 15 years, often winning by margins exceeding 40 points. In last season’s home opener, USC routed No. 14 Maryland 114–76, a statement that set the tone for another Final Four run.
What This Schedule Means
The 2020 planning is the work of art of restraint. There is the SEC grind on one side, and in that league, the two teams, Texas and Oklahoma, have even been able to join, making it even deeper. By contrast, Staley being comfortable enough to face ranked teams on the road brings with it a sense of confidence that her team can handle the heat on the road.
USC is filling its schedule with difficult road games and neutral-site matches in hopes of coming out of the season battle-tested in March. And though UConn will take away one of the most talked-about games of the sport, there will still be a slate of such games with the entry of programs such as Duke, Texas, and UCLA.
Final Take: The Standard Remains the Standard
If you’re looking for signs of slippage in Columbia, you won’t find them here. This schedule is built for a team expecting to play in April. The opener against Grand Canyon will be a sentimental moment, but make no mistake, the Gamecocks will treat it as seriously as a Final Four game. Dawn Staley’s philosophy is clear: play the best, beat the best, and learn from every battle. Whether it’s on the road in Las Vegas or inside Colonial Life Arena, USC’s 2025–26 campaign is poised to once again make the Gamecocks a fixture in championship conversations.
