The South Carolina Gamecocks are undefeated in women’s college basketball. And the entire season is in the books. And with march madness tournament on the horizon, the only question is whether anyone can stop the defending champions from being the repeat champions. The truth is that South Carolina has looked unstoppable, but that’s why we play the games. And they have shown themselves to be vulnerable at least a few times in 2023. So here are the teams that actually have a chance to take them out if and when they get the opportunity.

Iowa Hawkeyes - Big Ten Conference

The Iowa Hawkeyes were the number 3 ranked team in the nation in the final rankings of the year. But they are a 2 seed in this year’s tournament. Needless to say you should ignore their seeding, because they are the only team that can argue, they have the best player on the court in Caitlyn Clark if they were to matchup with South Carolina. And Iowa is often accused of being a one person team. But that’s an opinion shared by people who don’t actually watch them play. They are the Big Ten champions for a reason, and Monika Czinano is playing just as well as almost any of the players the Gamecocks can put out there.

Stanford Cardinal - Pac 12 Conference 

The Stanford Cardinal actually played South Carolina earlier this year. And they lost that game by 5 points. There is nothing like a grudge match to give any team an edge, and Stanford is a number 1 seed themselves for a reason. If they meet the Gamecocks in the final four they will likely have two players who are better than whoever the second best on South Carolina’s team actually is with Cameron Brink and Haley Jones. And they have the talent across the board to matchup evenly with anything South Carolina is doing. Regardless of who wins, that game will be a battle, just like their first meeting was.

 UConn Huskies - Big East Conference

The UConn Huskies are underrated for the first time I can ever remember. But they already played South Carolina earlier this year and lost that game by only 4 points. Even without Paige Bueckers they have the talent to beat the Gamecocks. Because when the two teams last met, Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme did not play. So adding both of them into the rotation, gives them just as good a shot as any to not only reach the final four, but beat the Gamecocks when they do.

The Bottom Line

If you have South Carolina as your pick to win the women’s tournament, I don’t blame you. But if you are bold enough to take someone else you have three options to choose from. Choose wisely because if they pull it off, it will undoubtedly be the biggest upset of the tournament.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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