Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
We talk about SEC football dominance all the time, and deservingly so.
Over the last three years however, that dominance has faded. Still there are other sports in the league that have been equally, or even more, dominant over the last decade or more. One of those is women’s basketball, and this upcoming season could prove to be the most talent rich and deepest we’ve ever seen.
With the transfer portal aiding in rebuilds and another dominant year in recruiting, the conference remains in great shape. That’s despite losing some incredible generational talent like Flau’Jae Johnson at places like LSU. Sure, there are question marks around the league, but the sport and league itself will be stronger than ever.
ESPN’s “Way-Too-Early” Women’s Top 25 Rankings [updated]:
1. South Carolina
2. UConn
3. Duke
4. Michigan
5. USC
6. Iowa
7. Louisville
8. Texas
9. UNC
10. LSU
11. Vanderbilt
12. Washington
13. UCLA
14. TCU
15. Ole Miss
16. Notre Dame
17. Kentucky
18. Ohio State
19. Minnesota…— E J 🏀 (@EJayArrow) April 30, 2026
This offseason the SEC landed ten of the top 20 players in the 2026 recruiting cycle and six of the 14 five star players. Blue bloods like LSU went the portal route and loaded up with All-Conference players that will step in right away. Ketnucky and Ole Miss finished with top ten classes that have vaulted them up projections for next season rapidly.
Across the country we should see rosters that are chock full of talent without losing the parity and de-centralizing of power from the three to four teams that seemed to run the sport for decades in the 90s and early 2000s. Southern Cal will have three former No. 1 overall recruits on their roster next year. South Carolina went to France to land two international stars to mold a roster where 13 of the 14 players are over 6-foot tall.
South Carolina’s team is looking so incredibly stacked that you could split the roster in two & they’d both likely be Top 10 teams… with one being THE top ranked team 😱
Team A 🐔
▪️5’9” Maddy McDaniel
▪️6’0” Tessa Johnson
▪️6’0” Jordan Lee
▪️6’2” Chloe Kitts
▪️6’3” Joyce…— E J 🏀 (@EJayArrow) April 29, 2026
It seems like the sport is the healthiest it’s ever been, and nearly every team in the Southeastern Conference is trending up. Half of the league’s teams made USA Today’s way too early rankings for next year.
No. 1 South Carolina
No. 6 Vanderbilt
No. 7 LSU
No. 13 Texas
No. 14 Ole Miss
No. 18 Kentucky
No. 23 Oklahoma
No. 25 Tennessee
Even more impressive the initial bracketology projections from ESPN showed the depth of the conference should be better than any other league in the country once again. Here are the seeding projections from SEC teams for next season.
No. 1 South Carolina
No. 2 Texas
No. 3 LSU
No. 3 Vanderbilt
No. 4 Ole Miss
No. 5 Kentucky
No. 6 Oklahoma
No. 9 Tennessee
No. 11 Alabama
No. 12 Mississippi State
With ten teams projected to make the field, now the question becomes can someone win it for the first time in three years.
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