Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Is there any argument that Saquon Barkley shouldn’t be NFL MVP this season?
In today’s SI:AM:
🦁 Lions’ impressive defense
🤔 Dan Quinn’s questionable call
🤯 College football chaos
Streak over
The No. 5 UCLA Bruins handed the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks their first loss in more than a year on Sunday, snapping South Carolina’s 43-game winning streak in a 77–62 blowout at Pauley Pavillion.
It was the Gamecocks’ first loss since a 77–73 defeat against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2023 Final Four and their first regular-season loss since dropping their SEC opener against the Missouri Tigers on Dec. 30, 2021.
The Bruins smothered South Carolina defensively, holding the Gamecocks to their fewest points in a game since they scored 59 in the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA tournament (perhaps not coincidentally, also against UCLA). It was South Carolina’s largest margin of defeat since a 25-point loss to the Baylor Bears in the Sweet 16 of the 2019 tournament.
South Carolina shot just 36.4% from the floor on Sunday, and only two players (Te-Hina Paopao and Tessa Johnson) scored in double figures. Star forward Chloe Kitts, who had averaged 14 points over the team’s first four games, was held to just two points in 12 minutes of action as she struggled against UCLA’s standout center Lauren Betts.
Betts had 11 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks, one of five Bruins players to score in double figures.
“I think we did a great job on Betts, but we got killed by everybody else,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley told reporters after the game. “And we’ll learn a valuable lesson. I like what we did on Betts, and then we got to figure out how we control everybody else and not allow them to get as many open looks [or] hit as many open looks, contested looks. It was a great game, great atmosphere and great opportunity for UCLA to knock us off.”
South Carolina has ruled women’s basketball for the past several years, winning three of the last seven NCAA tournaments and completing back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. And the expectations were high for the Gamecocks coming into this season. They returned the vast majority of players from last year’s undefeated championship squad and entered the season ranked No. 1 in the nation. But they’re still trying to adjust to life without the most dominant interior player in the nation, Kamila Cardoso.
The Gamecocks may very well still be the top team in the country. There’s no shame in losing in a tough road environment against a top-five team. But UCLA’s win was confirmation that we shouldn’t expect South Carolina to run away with the title again this season.
The Bruins are one of several teams that could challenge South Carolina’s grip on the spot. The other colossal matchup this weekend was the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s trip to play the No. 3 USC Trojans, a game the Irish won, 74–61, as two of the best players in the country went blow for blow. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo had 24 points, eight assists, six rebounds and five steals, while USC’s JuJu Watkins had 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. Both players are the kinds of stars who alone are enough to make their teams title contenders. The No. 2 UConn Huskies already boast a ranked win over the North Carolina Tar Heels and got a big boost last week when Azzi Fudd returned from a year-long absence due to a knee injury. The LSU Tigers, South Carolina’s main competition in the SEC, are undefeated and ranked No. 7.
If you liked this weekend’s marquee top-10 matchups, you’ll be glad to hear that a couple other potential contenders will face serious tests in the coming weeks before conference play begins. The first is on Thursday when the No. 8 Iowa State Cyclones, led by star sophomore Audi Crooks, will play South Carolina. The Cyclones did stumble last week in a loss on the road to the Northern Iowa Panthers, but Crooks went off for 33 points in a win over the Drake Bulldogs on Sunday. (The Cyclones will also play UConn on Dec. 17.) Then, on Dec. 5, the SEC/ACC Challenge will feature four top-25 matchups, headlined by the No. 4 Texas Longhorns visiting Notre Dame.
Three weeks into the season is too soon to make any grand pronouncements about any team, but now that the No. 1 team in the country has proven it’s not infallible, the door is open for someone else to show they’re the team to beat.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Albert Breer’s Week 12 NFL takeaways lead with a look at how the Lions’ defense has been as impressive as their offense.
- Conor Orr argues that Dan Quinn should have gone for two after the Commanders’ late touchdown against the Cowboys, instead of attempting an extra point (which they missed to lose the game).
- Matt Verderame broke down the latest NFL playoff picture, including why the Texans’ upset loss to the Titans didn’t hurt them too much.
- Pat Forde tried to make sense of the various College Football Playoff scenarios.
- Bryan Fischer believes that this weekend’s wild college football results showed why the 12-team playoff format has been a success.
- The Angels have been active on the free agent market in the early going, now agreeing to terms with a veteran pitcher.
- Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew broke his collarbone and will be out for the rest of the season.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. The 49ers’ nifty trick play for a 21-yard gain. (Unfortunately, the San Francisco offense couldn’t move the ball on non-trick plays in a 38–10 loss.)
4. Puka Nacua’s diving catch.
3. Audi Crooks’s game-winning shot for Iowa State with less than a second remaining.
2. Saquon Barkley’s 70-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half.
1. Barkley’s 72-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | UCLA’s Win Over South Carolina Is Evidence of Women’s Hoops Parity.