"We don't need a chip on our shoulder": Dawn Staley left "surprised" as South Carolina fails to make #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament

Dawn Staley continued pleading her case on why the South Carolina Gamecocks should have been the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The South Carolina coach made the argument in an interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe on Sunday, following the NCAA Selection Committee's decision to give the top seed to the UCLA Bruins.

Staley pointed out that the Gamecocks deserved to get that No. 1 overall seed as they had the toughest schedule among all the women's basketball teams in the NCAA this 2024-25 season. She couldn't believe it when UCLA got that spot on Selection Sunday instead.

"I'm a little bit surprised because we manufactured our schedule and put ourselves in a position to be the No. 1 overall seed," Staley said. "If you do the blind test and you put our resume against any other team in the field, I think you'll pick us."

"It's not gonna be a motivation for us moving forward. It's hard enough to win a national championship, we don't need a chip on our shoulder. We do need to voice it."

The South Carolina Gamecocks will face the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Friday at Colonial Life Arena. If South Carolina wins, the Gamecocks will then face the winner of the showdown between Utah and Indiana in the second round.

How Dawn Staley's South Carolina reached the 2025 March Madness

Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks will head into the 2025 NCAA Tournament with momentum on their side after dominantly winning the SEC Tournament. They defeated Vanderbilt and ranked teams Oklahoma and Texas by an average of 19.3 points to claim their third straight SEC Tournament championship.

Head coach Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks poses for a photo with the cheer team after their win over the Texas Longhorns in the SEC Tournament championship game. Photo: Getty

Before that tournament win, the Gamecocks finished the regular season with a 27-3 overall record. South Carolina claimed a share of the SEC regular-season title with the Texas Longhorns after both teams finished with a similar 15-1 record in the conference.

South Carolina's lone defeat in the SEC came against Texas at Moody Centre on Feb. 9, while the other two losses were handed by the UCLA Bruins and the UConn Huskies. The Bruins crushed the Gamecocks 77-62 on Nov. 24, while UConn trounced South Carolina 87-58 at Colonial Life Arena on Feb. 16.