Sports · Basketball · 5 hrs ago
South Carolina tops preseason rankings as JuJu Watkins returns to USC
South Carolina is No.
1 in ESPN’s preseason rankings for the 2026-27 women’s college basketball season.
USC star JuJu Watkins is returning after missing last season with a torn ACL suffered in March 2025.
Watkins was national player of the year before her injury and led USC to the Elite Eight.
Without her, USC won 18 games and reached the NCAA tournament’s second round as a No.
9 seed.
Her return makes USC a championship contender, but a largely changed roster raises questions about how the team will fit together.
The season starts Nov.
1, and the race to the Final Four looks wide open, with every team in the preseason top 25 facing questions.
South Carolina is ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s women’s preseason top 25 for the 2026-27 season.
JuJu Watkins is returning to USC after missing all of last season with a torn ACL.
USC went 18- games and reached the NCAA tournament’s second round without Watkins last season.
ESPN says Watkins’ return makes USC a national championship contender, though much of the roster has changed.
- Who
- South Carolina and USC are among the teams featured in ESPN’s women’s preseason rankings; JuJu Watkins is returning to USC.
- What
- South Carolina is ranked first, while USC is presented as a national championship contender with Watkins back.
- When
- The rankings were published on October 13, 2026, ahead of the season tipping off November 1.
- Where
- The rankings cover women’s college basketball in the United States.
- Why
- Watkins is returning after missing last season with a torn ACL, while South Carolina opens atop the rankings.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
JuJu Watkins suffered a torn ACL in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
USC won 18 games without Watkins and reached the NCAA tournament’s second round as a No. 9 seed.
ESPN published its preseason top 25, placing South Carolina first and noting Watkins’ return to USC.
The 2026-27 season is scheduled to tip off.
- Preseason rank
- South Carolina is No. 1 in ESPN’s top 25.
- Watkins
- JuJu Watkins is returning to USC after missing all of last season.
- Injury
- Watkins tore her ACL in March 2025.
- USC record
- 18 wins last season without Watkins.
- USC tournament finish
- Reached the NCAA tournament’s second round as a No. 9 seed.
- Season start
- November 1, 2026
Sources
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