The South Carolina women's basketball team has achieved perfection.
Dawn Staley's Gamecocks carried a perfect record into the women's Final Four for a second straight year. But this time around, they were able to protect it.
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After holding just a one-point halftime lead, the No. 1 overall-seeded Gamecocks pulled away for a 78-59 Final Four victory No. 3 NC State at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland on Friday night. The national semifinal win came one year after South Carolina saw its perfect season end with a Final Four loss to Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Then on Sunday, the unbeaten Gamecocks beat Clark and Co. 87-75 with to secure both a historic perfect season and national championship. It marked their second national title in three years.
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With the Gamecocks officially in the record books, here's a look at the history they joined:
How many undefeated NCAA women's basketball champions have there been?
There has been an undefeated champion ten times in women's NCAA Tournament history. The rare feat has been accomplished by four different programs: Baylor, Tennessee, Texas and UConn.
The 1985-86 Longhorns were the first to pull it off.
When was the last undefeated NCAA women's basketball champion?
South Carolina's 2024 triumph makes it the most recent undefeated NCAA women's champion. It is also the program's first time doing so.
UConn is the only program with multiple unblemished championship seasons. Geno Auriemma's Huskies went unbeaten a staggering six times, with two coming in consecutive seasons.
Here's a full look at each undefeated women's champion:
Texas, 1985-86: 34-0
UConn, 1994-95: 35-0
Tennessee, 1997-98: 39-0
UConn, 2001-02: 39-0
UConn, 2008-09: 39-0
UConn, 2009-10: 39-0
Baylor, 2011-12: 40-0
UConn, 2013-14: 40-0
UConn, 2015-16: 38-0
South Carolina, 2023-24: 38-0
How many undefeated NCAA men's basketball champions have there been?
There have been even fewer perfect championship seasons on the men's side. It's been done a combined seven times by four different programs: Indiana, North Carolina, San Francisco and UCLA.
San Francisco became the first undefeated men's champ in 1955-56.
When was the last undefeated NCAA men's basketball champion?
It's been nearly 50 years since the last unbeaten men's champ, which was the 1975-76 Hoosiers. Gonzaga was on the brink of ending the drought in 2020-21, but the Bulldogs fell to Baylor in the national title game.
Here's a full look at each time it's been done:
San Francisco, 1955-56: 29-0
North Carolina, 1956-57: 32-0
UCLA, 1963-64: 30-0
UCLA, 1966-67: 30-0
UCLA, 1971-72: 30-0
UCLA, 1972-73: 30-0
Indiana, 1975-76: 32-0
