Texas steals South Carolina's No. 1 spot in NET before top 5 battle
On Sunday, Dawn Staley’s South Carolina women’s basketball squad will take on Vic Schaefer and the Texas Longhorns. The No. 2 Gamecocks and No. 5 Longhorns will meet inside Colonial Life Arena for a 1:00 p.m. tip. The contest will air on ESPN and stream on the ESPN app.
[USC-Texas WBB: Win tickets, parking]
In the weeks leading up to this game, South Carolina and Texas have flip-flopped a bit in the NET rankings. The Gamecocks were No. 1 most of the season, but the Longhorns took the spot before they traded No. 1 and No. 2 a couple more times. The most recent change in the NET, as of Friday, saw Texas reclaim the top spot ahead of Sunday’s matchup.
The NET, for those unfamiliar, is the most important ranking metric used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. It factors in Team Value Index (essentially a team’s on-court results, location of games, and strength of schedule) and adjusted net efficient ratings (how well a team plays in those games, adjusted for the quality of opponent and location of games).
The two teams’ strength of schedule metrics and combined 31-2 overall record have them on top of the NET. Undefeated teams like UCLA (who beat the Gamecocks), LSU, and Ohio State haven’t played nearly the same tough schedule.
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The winner of this game will own the top spot in the NET after this weekend. That team also will be in the SEC driver’s seat. This is Texas’ first year in the Southeastern Conference, while South Carolina has won eight of the last eleven regular season conference titles and eight of the last ten SEC Tournaments.
The Gamecocks and Longhorns will play one more time this season, that time in Austin instead of Columbia.
