Perfect seasons in NCAA women's basketball: South Carolina joins UConn, other undefeated champs in history

Edward Sutelan

Perfect seasons in NCAA women's basketball: South Carolina joins UConn, other undefeated champs in history image

For the second time in as many years, South Carolina arrived at the Final Four with an undefeated season on the line. Last year, Iowa ended the run by the Gamecocks. NC State could not do the same a year later, nor could the Hawkeyes.

South Carolina overcame an early deficit on Sunday to win its third national championship under Dawn Staley, rallying past Iowa and finishing off an unbeaten season to keep the engine humming right along for the modern-day powerhouse of NCAA women's basketball.

The Gamecocks haven't just been winning these games: they've been demolishing teams. South Carolina has won their games by an average of 28.9 points per game, including 24.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.

Sunday's title put South Carolina in rare territory with an undefeated record, ensuring this deep Gamecocks team has a special place in college basketball history.

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In whose company would South Carolina share with an undefeated season? Here's what you need to know.

Perfect seasons in NCAA women's basketball

There have been 10 undefeated seasons in Division I women's college basketball history. Only four different programs have them to their name, and the list features the heavyweights of the sport: Texas, UConn, Tennessee and Baylor.

South Carolina became the 10th undefeated team and the fifth different program to accomplish the feat.

Here's a look at the undefeated Division I women's teams with national championships:

Year Team Record Avg. Point Differential
1985-86 Texas 34-0 26.6
1994-95 UConn 35-0 33
1997-98 Tennessee 39-0 30.1
2001-02 UConn 39-0 34.4
2008-09 UConn 39-0 30.5
2009-10 UConn 39-0 28.9
2011-12 Baylor 40-0 27.6
2013-14 UConn 40-0 34.3
2015-16 UConn 38-0 39.7
2023-24 South Carolina 38-0 28.9

Unsurprisingly, Geno Auriemma's Huskies fill this list. They're the only program with multiple undefeated seasons. They've also been the most dominant undefeated teams, with an average margin of 39.7 points in 2015-16, 34.4 in 2001-02 and 34.3 in 2013-14.

MORE: Dawn Staley named Sporting News Coach of the Year

Perfect seasons in NCAA men's basketball

There have only been seven undefeated seasons in men's college basketball. Of those, four were accomplished by John Wooden's UCLA teams.

The others were accomplished by San Francisco, North Carolina and Indiana. No men's team has finished an undefeated season since 1975-76.

Year Team Record Avg. Point Differential
1955-56 San Francisco 29-0 20
1956-57 North Carolina 32-0 13.7
1963-64 UCLA 30-0 18.8
1966-67 UCLA 30-0 25.9
1971-72 UCLA 30-0 30.3
1972-73 UCLA 30-0 21.2
1975-76 Indiana 32-0 17.3

There have been some impressive undefeated campaigns on the men's side, but none in which they averaged a larger margin of victory than those of the most dominant UConn women's teams. 

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.