Last April, for the sixth time in the last eight NCAA Tournaments, an SEC team played for the national championship. While the South Carolina Gamecocks ultimately fell to the UConn Huskies, the conference’s dominance as a women’s basketball league continued to be a storyline. Since 2017, there has been just one Final Four played without an SEC team in it, and in that same stretch there have been three Final Fours featuring multiple teams from the conference. Last year was the latest, as the Texas Longhorns joined the Gamecocks at the semifinals in Tampa.
The conference features colorful coaches and exceptional players. Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey and Vic Schaeffer are three of the winningest coaches in the sport, while Kim Caldwell, Jennie Baranczyk and Shea Ralph are seen as rising stars in the profession. Kenny Brooks, who has quickly resurrected Kentucky, owns a Final Four appearance and more than 500 career victories too. And Yolett McPhee-McCuin has turned Ole Miss into a consistent winner.
On the court are some of the brightest stars in the sport, from LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson to reigning USBWA National Freshman of the Year Mikayla Blakes at Vanderbilt. Via the transfer portal, other big names like Ta’Niya Latson and Cotie McMahon join the SEC, as do six of the top 10 freshmen in ESPN’s 2025 class.
Here’s a closer look at perhaps the deepest conference in women’s college basketball.
The Big Question: Will injuries or new faces slow down South Carolina?
Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks have been the standard in the SEC for nearly a decade. Since 2015, they’ve gone to seven Final Fours — including five straight — and they’ve won nine SEC Tournament titles, which include five of the last six. Most of those teams were constructed in a way that emphasized a defense-first mindset and where the ball flowed through the post on offense. And indeed, South Carolina has had some supremely talented forwards and centers over the years, from A’ja Wilson and Aaliyah Boston to Kamilla Cardoso and Sania Feagin.
Playing alongside Cardoso and Feagin in recent years were Ashlyn Watkins and Chloe Kitts, two versatile and athletic forwards. Watkins grabbed a career-best 20 rebounds in South Carolina’s 2024 Final Four win over N.C. State, en route to the Gamecocks’ completing an undefeated season. Last season, in a seven-game stretch beginning with the SEC Tournament quarterfinals and going through the Elite Eight, Kitts averaged 14.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a block per game, earning MVP honors for the SEC Tournament and the Birmingham 2 Regional.
It was initially expected that Staley would be able to lean on both of those players in the frontcourt this year as Joyce Edwards continued to develop and as Mississippi State transfer Madina Okot adjusted to South Carolina’s style and culture. But that’s no longer the case, as Kitts and Watkins are both out for the season.
Now, Edwards and Okot won’t just be counted on in starting roles, but they might be expected to play north of 30 minutes per game. The good news is that Edwards seemed to keep getting better last season and was a key component of Team USA’s AmeriCup-winning team this summer. If anyone is ready for a breakout season, it seems to be her. And Okot nearly averaged a double-double in SEC play last season, proving that she’s battle-tested in this league.
The backcourt has a steady and veteran hand leading it in fifth-year guard Raven Johnson. Tessa Johnson will likely enter the starting lineup as a junior, and they’ll be joined by Raven’s former high school teammate Ta’Niya Latson who led the nation in scoring last season at Florida State.
Maryam Dauda, Agot Makeer, Adhel Tac, Maddy McDaniel and Ayla McDowell are the reserves. In all, South Carolina is heading into the season with 10 healthy players. Which is all to say, the Gamecocks probably have enough talent to win the SEC and make a deep NCAA Tournament run again, but they can’t afford anymore key injuries and they need chemistry between the new and old players to be established quickly.
Feeling Good About: Kentucky
It feels like the Wildcats are being underrated heading into this season, as they checked in at No. 24 in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll and eighth in the SEC’s preseason poll. This comes after a season in which the Wildcats went 23-8 overall, 11-5 in SEC play, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. And while Georgia Amoore is off in the WNBA, three starters from that team return in 6-foot-4 Amelia Hassett, 6-foot-5 Teonni Key and 6-foot-6 Clara Strack.
Simply put, the Wildcats are still bigger than most teams and those tall players are packed with talent too. Strack was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore and averaged north of 15 points and nine rebounds per game last season, while Key shot better than 50 percent from the floor and averaged career-best stats across the board.
In addition to that depth in the frontcourt, Kenny Brooks brought in multi-time All-ACC selection Tonie Morgan to run the point, and former All-Ivy League guard Jordan Obi should be healthy after missing last season with an injury. In Brooks’ second season in Lexington, the Wildcats shouldn’t be overlooked.
Not Feeling Good About: Arkansas
Kelsi Musick is going to want the Razorbacks to press on defense and play an up-tempo pace on offense. That’s a style and scheme that they’ll need to execute at a high level to be competitive in the SEC in their first season under Musick. The best player on this team was at Oral Roberts last year, and there’s a few other players who could pan out to be complimentary contributors, but ultimately this does not look like a roster that’s capable of being consistently competitive in the SEC.
Must-Watch Freshman: Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma
Chavez is being billed as one of — if not the best — rookies in the country. She scored more than 4,000 points in her high school career and had her pick of top programs to choose from, picking the Sooners over offers from South Carolina, LSU, UCLA, Texas and Texas Tech.
A 5-foot-11 guard, she averaged north of 35 points per game as a high school senior, was named MVP of the Jordan Brand Classic, and was tabbed as the National High School Player of the Year by Gatorade, Sports Illustrated and MaxPreps.
Chavez has already predicted that the Sooners will make the Elite Eight this season, something they haven’t done since 2010. She and Oklahoma fans have reason for optimism though. In Jennie Baranczyk’s fifth season at the helm, Chavez will pair with the Sooners’ three-leading scorers from last season in Raegan Beers, Peyton Verhulst and Sahara Williams. If Chavez is as good as advertised, Oklahoma’s ceiling will be significantly raised.
Under The Radar Impact Transfer: Amiya Joyner, LSU
While the arrivals of MiLaysia Fulwiley and Kate Koval grabbed the majority of headlines in Baton Rouge, Joyner could be just as crucial to the Tigers’ success this season.
A versatile 6-foot-2 forward who can guard multiple positions, Joyner comes to LSU after three seasons at East Carolina where she was a three-time all-conference selection in the American. Last season, she was one of just 16 players in the nation to average at least 15 points, nine rebounds and one assist per game while shooting better than 48 percent from the floor.
Expect her to spend a lot of time playing the four for LSU, where she could potentially form a formidable duo in the paint with Koval.
Most Interesting Player: Janiah Barker, Tennessee
WNBA scouts and talent evaluators have long been excited about Barker’s potential. She’s 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-7 wingspan, and is armed with a dynamic faceup game and elite athleticism. Barker can run the floor as well as any guard, defend multiple positions, and can grab the rim with both hands.
But we’ve yet to see her really put it all together and have a standout collegiate season. She started her career at Texas A&M, then spent last season at UCLA where she played an important role, albeit coming off the bench. She was the Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year last season, and made the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2023. For her career, she’s averaged 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor.
In her final season of college eligibility, can Barker reach her full potential and raise her draft stock under the tutelage of Kim Caldwell at Tennessee? If the Lady Vols take another step forward this year, the improved play of Barker could be a reason why.
Coach on the Hot Seat: Joni Taylor, Texas A&M
Simply put, this hire — and the ones at Georgia and UCF that happened because of it — hasn’t worked out. While Taylor found consistent success at UGA, she hasn’t been able to replicate that in College Station as the sport has entered its latest era where the transfer portal, NIL and rev share rule.
Taylor is 11-37 overall in SEC play since arriving at Texas A&M and has gone to the NCAA Tournament just once, where the Aggies lost in the first round to Nebraska.
The Aggies tried to solve their roster problems by hitting the portal hard this offseason, but ended up mostly with mid-major players who they’re betting on can play competitively in the SEC. If Taylor loses that bet, she may be looking for a new job this spring.
Tennessee at UConn: Sunday, Feb. 1, 12 p.m. ET — FOX
The Lady Vols’ win over the Huskies last year proved to be the signature, proof-of-concept victory for Kim Caldwell in her first season, and it snapped a four-game losing streak to UConn for Tennessee. The reigning national champs will be aiming to get back in the win column against their rivals this year.
Oklahoma at Vanderbilt: Monday, Feb. 9, 8 p.m. ET — ESPN2
Aaliyah Chavez potentially going basket-for-basket with Mikayla Blakes? Sign me up.
South Carolina at LSU: Saturday, Feb. 14, 8:30 p.m. ET — ABC
Potentially the biggest regular season game of the year. It could be Flau’Jae Johnson’s last chance to beat the Gamecocks, and will present an opportunity for MiLaysia Fulwiley to show South Carolina what it’s missing. Meanwhile, Staley’s side probably doesn’t even consider this matchup to be a real rivalry — South Carolina has won 17 straight against LSU.
