South Carolina Back on Top in Latest NCAA Women's Basketball NET Rankings

The South Carolina Gamecocks have reclaimed their top spot in the new NCAAW NET Rankings release.

Jan 12, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Te-Hina Paopao (0) drives past Texas Longhorns forward Justice Carlton (11) in the first half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

The NET rankings become increasingly valuable as the 2024-25 NCAA women's college basketball season inches closer to postseason play and the eventual 2025 NCAA Tournament.

This is because the Selection Committee uses these NET Rankings — which "takes into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses" — when determining the seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

At the end of December, the Texas Longhorns were listed as the No. 1 team in these rankings, with Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks listed at No. 2 behind them.

But South Carolina dominated Texas on January 12, beating them by a score of 67-50. Therefore, it only made sense that South Carolina would reclaim the No. 1 spot it had held earlier on in the year.

And that's exactly what happened. The January 13 edition of the NET Rankings has been released, as shown by an X post from @MarchMadnessWBB that wrote,

"🚨 NET RANKINGS UPDATE 🚨

1. South Carolina
2. Texas
3. UConn
4. UCLA
5. Kansas State
6. USC
7. Notre Dame
8. TCU
9. LSU
10. Duke".

🚨 NET RANKINGS UPDATE 🚨

1. South Carolina
2. Texas
3. UConn
4. UCLA
5. Kansas State
6. USC
7. Notre Dame
8. TCU
9. LSU
10. Duke

The #NCAAWBB NET Rankings are used by the Selection Committee and updated daily 🔗 https://t.co/wtbTbFCmHL pic.twitter.com/GyO8Ka5VHj

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) January 13, 2025

Aside from South Carolina reclaiming the top spot, there hasn't been much movement within these top 10 teams since our last article on the NET Rankings system at the end of 2024.

However, both the UConn Huskies and USC Trojans increased their ranking slightly, which is a byproduct of their current winning streaks.

The Gamecocks have four consecutive matches against ranked opponents on the horizon. If they finish those four games with wins, there's little question they'll remain atop these NET Rankings as February approaches.