Dawn Staley recalls "embarrassing" loss to Geno Auriemma's UConn, makes strong case for South Carolina #1 seed in March Madness

Dawn Staley argued her case for the South Carolina Gamecocks to be declared the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 March Madness during Tuesday's episode of the "Carolina Calls" radio show. Staley remained adamant that South Carolina should be given that honor despite the Gamecocks suffering an embarrassing loss to the UConn Huskies during the regular season.

Staley made the bold claim after the Gamecocks cruised to victory in the 2025 SEC Tournament. They defeated Vanderbilt, then-No. 10 Oklahoma and then-No. 1 Texas by an average of 19.3 points to claim their third straight SEC Tournament title.

"We’re going to be the overall number one seed. It’s really simple," Staley said, per a post on X (formerly Twitter) from sports reporter Michael Sauls of The State.

"It’s not the new math. The new math may have us second, third or fourth or maybe a two-seed. But the old original math with the body of work, the schedule that we put together, the Quad One wins, the strength of schedule, the NET. If you add all those metrics together, nobody has the body of work we have," Staley added.

Dawn Staley did acknowledge South Carolina's heavy loss to UConn but argued the committee should also take a look at the Gamecocks' response to that upset defeat.

"You can look at the three losses and you can say the Connecticut loss was an embarrassing loss, and it was. But how we responded to each and every loss, I think, shows the type of team that we are," Staley said.

How Dawn Staley's South Carolina responded to its losses this 2024-25 season

The South Carolina Gamecocks suffered their first defeat of the season on Nov. 24, losing to then-No. 5 UCLA 77-62. It was a stunning loss for the Gamecocks, who had their 43-game winning streak snapped.

They bounced back strongly from that loss, though, winning 17 consecutive games to improve their overall record to 22-1. The Gamecocks had a difficult schedule during that long unbeaten run, defeating ranked teams Iowa State, Duke, TCU, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and LSU.

Texas ended South Carolina's winning streak on Feb. 9, recording a 66-62 victory at Moody Center. The Gamecocks immediately rebounded from that loss, crushing the Florida Gators 101-63 at Colonial Life Arena on Feb. 13.

Head coach Dawn Staley, left, of the South Carolina Gamecocks and head coach Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies meet before their game at Colonial Life Arena on February 16, 2025. Photo: Getty

Their joy was short-lived, though, as Geno Auriemma's UConn handed South Carolina its worst loss of the season on Feb. 16. The Huskies defeated the Gamecocks 87-58 to snap South Carolina's 71-game winning streak at home.

Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks responded well to adversity, winning seven games in a row, including their last three in the SEC Tournament.