Dawn Staley Laments Coin Toss Scenario for SEC Top Seed Between South Carolina, Texas

South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley isn't stoked about a potential coin toss to decide SEC Conference Tournament seeding.

South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley talks with an official during an NCAA college basketball game against Tennessee on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Two women's basketball teams in the SEC Conference have separated themselves from the rest of the pack this season. The problem is that they aren't separate from each other.

The No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns and the No. 6 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks have identical 14-1 SEC records after South Carolina's 75-59 win over Ole Miss and Texas' 68-64 win over Mississippi State on Thursday. Both teams have one conference game left on their schedules on Sunday (at home against Florida for Texas and at home against No. 15 ranked Kentucky for South Carolina), and given that they've each beaten the other one time, this puts them in a dead tie.

Therefore, it both teams win on Sunday, their seeding in the SEC tournament will come down to a coin toss.

When speaking about this somewhat absurd scenario on February 26, Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley said, "We control our own destiny, and then if we take care of business and Texas takes care of business, then our fate is in a coin toss. Yay," per an X post from Matt Dowell.

Staley then joked that both her team and Texas are surely hoping that the other loses so that a coin toss is avoided. She then added, "It is what it is. I think we should have thought a little bit more ahead of this situation... that's just me though."

If @TexasWBB and @GamecockWBB both win out, the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament would come down to a coin flip.

Dawn Staley: "I think we should've thought a little bit more ahead of this situation knowing that we were bringing a Texas and a Oklahoma into the SEC." pic.twitter.com/oFFZeiEk5G

— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) February 26, 2025

The coin toss was also on Staley's mind after Thursday's win against Ole Miss, as she told ESPN, "Right now, we're fighting for our lives with the coin toss."

Most non-Texas or South Carolina fans are probably hoping for the coin toss at this point, considering how it's a unique spectacle that's seemingly irking Staley.