The Southeastern Conference released its full slate of matchups for the 2026‑27 women’s basketball season on Tuesday, setting the stage for a series of high‑profile contests that will begin at the end of the year.
Oklahoma Returns as a Home‑and‑Home Rival
Oklahoma will meet South Carolina in a home‑and‑home series, a rematch of last season’s only regular‑season conference loss for the Gamecocks. The Sooners’ victory over South Carolina last year added extra intrigue to the upcoming meetings.
The conference schedule lists seven home opponents for South Carolina — Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Texas A&M — while the road slate includes Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas and Vanderbilt.
Games are slated to open on December 31, with exact dates and tipoff times to be announced later. In addition to the conference slate, South Carolina’s non‑conference agenda features matchups against Maryland, Southern California, UConn and Duke.
The team will also travel to Charlotte for the Ally Tipoff, where they are scheduled to play North Carolina, though the exact date has yet to be confirmed.
Rivalries and Return Games
South Carolina maintains its traditional rivalry with Clemson, meeting the Tigers each season, while contractual obligations will see the Gamecocks return to Providence to face Rhode Island, host FGCU in Columbia, and travel to Penn State and Grand Canyon in the 2027‑28 season.
Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks’ head coach, confirmed that South Carolina will again participate in the Players Era Championship for the next two seasons, a tournament that may expand to three games and welcome additional teams.
The SEC’s announcement underscores a growing emphasis on scheduling flexibility, with conference leaders hinting at possible expansions and new partnership opportunities that could reshape the landscape of women’s college basketball.