South Carolina softball's place in the rankings heading into SEC Tournament

South Carolina softball heads into the SEC Tournament this week as the league’s No. 12 seed. The Gamecocks and the rest of the league will begin the Lexington, Kentucky-hosted event on Tuesday.

Last week, USC went just 1-3, with three one-run losses on the road against Alabama. The one victory came at home over South Carolina State.

Now, Ashley Chastain Woodard’s team holds a 30-25 overall record and a 7-17 mark in conference play.

South Carolina recently pushed back into multiple top-25 rankings after a strong stretch of play. Even with the tough showing in the win-loss column, the Gamecocks remain in three of the four major rankings from Softball America, D1Softball, ESPN.com/USA Softball, and the NFCA/GoRout Coaches Poll.

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Three of the major polls placed the Gamecocks in their weekly top 25 rankings.

This week, Softball America, D1Softball, and ESPN.com/USA Softball all included South Carolina. The NFCA/GoRout Coaches Poll was the only one of the four major rankings to exclude USC, but the Gamecocks did earn some votes.

After popping up in the Softball America rankings recently, Carolina moved down two spots. This week, Chastain Woodard’s group is No. 23 and 11th in the SEC.

D1Softball’s top 25 also dropped South Carolina two spots from last week. Now, the Gamecocks are 25th in the poll and 11th among all Southeastern Conference teams.

The combined ESPN.com and USA Softball poll told an identical story as Softball America. USC fell two spots from No. 23 to No. 25 and is the 11th highest-ranked team in the SEC.

South Carolina softball fell out of the NFCA/GoRout Coaches Poll top 25 several weeks ago and has not resurfaced. Chastain Woodard’s group did pick up some votes but not enough to join the other 10 SEC squads in the ranking.

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The No. 12 seed South Carolina Gamecocks (30-25, 7-17) will match up with the No. 13 seed Ole Miss Rebels (32-23, 6-18) in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. Thanks to potential inclement weather in Lexington, the matchup will begin 35 minutes after the conclusion of Mississippi State and Kentucky, which began earlier than originally scheduled. That contest began shortly after 2 p.m.

Fans can tune in to watch the Gamecocks and Rebels on SEC Network later this afternoon. The ESPN app will also make the contest available via streaming.

Ole Miss is not ranked in any of the four major polls. However, the Rebels did appear in the “also receiving votes” portion of the polls from D1Softball, ESPN.com/USA Softball, and NFCA/GoRout Coaches Poll.

If the Gamecocks win, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers (second round) and Texas Longhorns (third round) sit in South Carolina’s potential path through the tournament after earning byes.

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