No. 1 South Carolina seeks SEC title while discourse on rigor of conference continues

South Carolina’s narrow 64-57 victory against Ole Miss on Sunday set the table for discourse on the state of the SEC.

The conference had just two teams ranked in The Associated Press poll for the eighth consecutive week. But Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin — after close losses to the Gamecocks and No. 5 LSU — insisted that the Rebels belonged in the conversation.

“I don’t care what anybody says, my team’s a Top 25 team in the country,” McPhee-McCuin said on Sunday.

This week’s AP poll had four teams receive points in the SEC, with Tennessee — USC’s next opponent — and Ole Miss sitting outside of the rankings. LSU came in at No. 5.

South Carolina even lost its streak of unanimous No. 1 rankings after the close victory, with Indiana claiming one spot. The Hoosiers lost just once during conference play and are the top team in the Big Ten. Indiana has a 9-0 record against AP Top 25 teams at the time of the meetings.

Staley said she wasn’t bothered by the vote, and that the team is focused on what it can control.

“I don’t care,” Staley said. “As long as we keep winning, we’re good with that.”

ESPN’s projected NCAA tournament field features nine ACC teams, and seven teams from the SEC, Pac-12, Big Ten and Big 12. Other than South Carolina and LSU, no SEC team is currently higher than a No. 6 seed.

“(The SEC is) not even top heavy, it is middle of the road heavy,” Staley said. “And then you mix in some of the ones that are at the bottom, they can win. They can beat you.”

The conference is known for a physical style of play that features post players on offense. It’s had many great coaches in the past, though a lot of them have retired or moved on to new teams.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma has coached the Huskies in close games against both Tennessee and South Carolina this season. UConn’s offense is much more guard-oriented than South Carolina’s, giving it better matchups in some areas.

USC ultimately won the game in Hartford.

“The difference in styles of play is what I think is unique about it,” Auriemma said on Feb. 5. “And our team is put together 180 (degrees) different right now compared to some of the teams in the SEC. And that usually leads to good games, two teams that are very far apart in their style of play and what they’re trying to accomplish.”

Other conferences in Division I have different styles of play that also tend to yield higher scoring games. Many of the teams near the top of the poll in Power Five/Big East conferences draw more ranked matchups than the SEC has.

“Other conferences around the country, they’re playing better,” Staley said. “It’s great that in women’s basketball, we can have those conversations about who’s the best conference.”

Staley didn’t say which conference she felt was the best, but with her experience in the SEC, she said that she’s gotten used to the style and what is required to win games.

“Being able to adjust and pivot and do all those things to keep your head above water in this league because you will drown,” Staley said. “If you’re not able to do those things, you’ll drown.”

South Carolina has an SEC-clinching game coming up against Tennessee on Thursday. A win gives USC a share of the conference regular-season championship and would be its seventh all-time.

The Volunteers have won four of their past five games and are third in the conference standings. South Carolina is 3-3 against Tennessee in Knoxville since 2012.

“It’s the biggest arena that we play in, and they fill it up,” Staley said. “The Tennessee loyals will pack the house.”

South Carolina will see a variety of different styles once it gets to the postseason. It has already beaten teams from the Pac-12, Big East and Big Ten conferences.

The brand of basketball the Gamecocks play has them at 27-0, and teams with different approaches are positioning themselves for No. 1 seeds in the upcoming tournament.

“I think it’s fair to say that women’s basketball is in a place where parity lives well and good, and we’re going to hang our hats on that,” Staley said.