SEC Tournament Preview: Can South Carolina Win a Fourth Straight Championship?

The Gamecocks win over Kentucky on Sunday marked the official end of the 2025-2026 regular season. Postseason play is back and South Carolina has a chance to win the SEC Tournament for the fourth consecutive year.

Mar 1, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Raven Johnson (25) moves down the court during the first quarter at Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Arden Barnes-Imagn Images | Arden Barnes-Imagn Images

The SEC Tournament is back this week with the regular season champion Gamecocks looking to repeat history. The tournament begins on Wednesday, but South Carolina will not learn who they are playing till after Thursday's games.

Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks will play either Arkansas, Kentucky, or Georgia on Friday in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The team has an opportunity to do something in this tournament that only one other team has done in the league's history. Spoiler alert, it's a mark the Gamecocks set back in 2016.

Repeating History?

Mar 4, 2018; Nashville, TN, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward A'ja Wilson (22) poses with the championship trophy after a win against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs in SEC Conference Tournament championship game at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

The SEC has been around since 1980. Prior to 2018, only Tennessee had won three straight tournaments and did so twice (1998-2000, 2010-2012). South Carolina became the second program to achieve that feat from 2015-2017, however they became the first program in conference history to win four straight after winning again in 2018. Can the team do it again?

South Carolina is the favorites coming into the tournament and look to be on a collision course for another national title run. Not to be overlooked, the Gamecocks also won their fifth straight regular season title last week. The team, under Dawn Staley, has been on a historic run in the last decade and it doesn't appear to be slowing down.

The first round of the SEC Tournament is set to begin on Wednesday Mar. 4. The 16th seeded Arkansas Razorbacks and the 9th seeded Kentucky Wildcats will kick off the tournament at 11:00 am (ET). Gamecock fans may want to tune into this one as one of those two teams could wind up playing South Carolina in the quartefinals on Friday.

Looking for more:

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• UCF Wideout DJ Black Returns to South Carolina for Final Year of Eligibility

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