South Carolina women's basketball: Gamecocks win the coin flip for the top seed in the SEC Tournament

South Carolina won the coin flip to be the top seed in the SEC Tournament.

It was a scene so ridiculous, so dramatic, so entertaining that it felt like it belonged to the annals of college football. There was SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, live from Birmingham via satellite (or fiber-optics), at halftime of the LSU-Ole Miss game, flipping a coin to determine the top team in the best conference in the country. 

Move over 1973 Rose Bowl Vote, we’ve got the 2025 SEC Coin Flip.

Sure, it took an absolutely perfect scenario for it to come to this. South Carolina and Texas had had to play each other for their only home-and-home of the conference season. They had to split, and they had to beat everyone else.

That means tiebreakers one (head-to-head) and two (record versus the number 1 seed, proceeding to 16 if necessary) couldn’t break the tie. Maybe tiebreaker three could have been the combined score, or NET ranking, or AP poll, but it isn’t. It’s “Coin flip by the Commissioner.”

The result is important because South Carolina and Texas are competing for the same goals, and now South Carolina has an advantage. Both teams are SEC regular season champions (the conference doesn’t break ties for the title, only the seeding). A tournament title would not only provide bragging rights but a stronger resume for the NCAA selection committee.

The top seed in the SEC tournament has an advantage in who it plays and when. The top seed plays the early game each day, and a potential matchup with Kentucky on Saturday looks less threatening than a game against LSU.

If you don’t think the extra rest matters, here’s what Texas coach Vic Schaefer said after the semifinals of his last SEC tournament in 2020, when he was at Mississippi State.

“We’re on like a 16-, 18-hour turnaround,” he said. “Who planned this deal? It’s concerning for me. I told my kids we probably aren’t going to take our shootaround tomorrow because it’s at 7:30. We won’t get to the hotel and be close to being in bed by 11:30 by the time you lose your hour. My kids know I hate that. We never pass up a shootaround.”

The Bulldogs lost to the Gamecocks 76-62 the next day, and it wasn’t that close.

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Both teams want to be a number one seed in Birmingham and play Friday/Sunday. Only one can do that, and it is probably the tournament champion. According to BetMGM, South Carolina has the second-best odds of winning the title (+300), and Texas has the fourth-best (+600). That will change based on the bracket.

Clearly, nobody ever expected it to come to this. The conference had to send out a release just before midnight on Thursday explaining the procedure. It included step-by-step instructions on how Sankey would execute the flip.

“The coin will be tossed in the air by the Commissioner, caught and flipped over on the back of his hand. Whichever logo is face up will be declared the number 1 seed.”

Think it’s impossible to screw up a coin flip? Ask Jerome Bettis.

The SEC didn’t turn the coin flip into a television special like I proposed. The league could have sold sponsorship rights and put the proceeds towards revenue sharing. “The SEC Coin Flip Special brought to you by the Frankiln Mint” sounds like a missed opportunity.

But the SEC did get a custom coin designed and manufactured, because the SEC is rich, baby. That raises questions that are not addressed by the flipping directions.

How much did it cost? Is it a fair coin? That Gamecock logo looked heavier than the Longhorn logo. Who minted the coin? Was it a licensed moneyer? Does the winning team get to keep the coin?

We may not get answers to all the questions. Truthfully, by next year, nobody will care anymore. Actually, we probably won’t care by the time the First Four tips off next week. 

But we’ll always remember the legendary 2025 SEC Coin Flip.

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