South Carolina received 23 of the 31 first-place votes in the AP women's basketball preseason poll. UConn received six. Their point totals are closer than that split might suggest: the Gamecocks lead 764–746 because the Huskies rarely fall below second.
Twenty-two voters placed UConn No. 2 in the October 20 poll. Those choices contribute 528 points, more than two-thirds of its total. South Carolina has a clear advantage in first choices while UConn retains nearly all the points available just below the top spot.
AP awards 25 points for first, 24 for second, then one fewer for each lower position through 25th. Moving a team from first to second costs one point. A voter choosing South Carolina first and UConn second therefore adds only one point to the Gamecocks' lead.
How Close Each Comes to the Maximum
The maximum for any team on this panel is 775 points: 31 voters multiplied by 25. South Carolina finishes 11 points below that mark; UConn finishes 29 below it.
| Ballot Position | South Carolina | UConn |
|---|
| First | 23 | 6 |
|---|
| Second | 5 | 22 |
|---|
| Third | 3 | 2 |
|---|
| Fourth | 0 | 1 |
|---|
South Carolina loses five points from its five second-place rankings and six from its three thirds, accounting for its 11-point shortfall. UConn loses 22 points from its seconds, four from its thirds and three from its one fourth. The difference between those shortfalls, 29 minus 11, is the 18-point margin.
The direct comparison produces the same result. South Carolina is higher on 24 ballots and UConn on seven. The Gamecocks' favorable ranking gaps add up to 26 places; the Huskies' add up to eight. Because both appear on every ballot, subtracting those advantages accounts for the lead exactly.
South Carolina begins the season with much broader support as the first choice. UConn's concentration at No. 2 keeps that advantage from becoming a large points gap. The preseason panel is choosing the Gamecocks more often at the top while placing the Huskies close enough to preserve 746 of the 775 available points.
Sources & Methodology
South Carolina
UConn
