A month into the 2024-25 women’s college basketball season, we’ve already seen something that happened just once in the last two years: a South Carolina loss.
The defending national champion Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak ended with a 77-62 defeat at UCLA on Nov. 24, vaulting the Bruins to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. South Carolina responded with a vengeance four days later with a 40-point blowout of ranked Iowa State that included a 32-0 Gamecocks run.
The loss was a reset — not the worst thing — for South Carolina. And now we’re doing the same: Reexamining what we anticipated in the preseason vs. what we’ve witnessed so far.
Did we predict TCU would be this good? Did we expect too much of Baylor and NC State? Are we making changes to our picks for the favorites to win the NCAA title and national player of the year?
As we open December — which includes the ACC/SEC Challenge on Wednesday and Thursday on ESPN/ESPN2, plus the now high-profile matchup between South Carolina and TCU on Sunday (7 p.m., ESPN2) — here are the things that have stood out for ESPN’s Michael Voepel, Charlie Creme and Alexa Philippou.
What have been the biggest surprises so far?
Creme: Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince are the best tandem in the country. All the talk of top duos In the preseason…
