South Carolina wins coin flip to decide No. 1 seed in SEC

Field Level Media|published: Sun 2nd March, 17:38 2025

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley works with her team against the Vanderbilt during the second quarter at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.

The bracket for the SEC women's basketball tournament came down to a coin toss.

South Carolina (27-3) earned the No. 1 seed in this week's conference tournament over Texas (29-2) after commissioner Greg Sankey performed a coin flip televised live on ESPN Sunday.

South Carolina, the defending national champions, earned a share of the SEC regular-season title for the fourth year running when the sixth-ranked Gamecocks beat No. 15 Kentucky 78-66 on Sunday.

But No. 1 Texas also won its final game 72-46 over Florida so that both teams finished 15-1 in the SEC, their only losses coming against one another.

With the other tiebreaking steps moot, the coin toss was necessary, and the Gamecocks received a little luck to finalize the top seed.

Behind No. 2 seed Texas, LSU and Kentucky round out the top four who will receive a double bye into the quarterfinals. The tournament will be played March 5-9 in Greenville, S.C.

--Field Level Media