Women's college basketball never fails to disappoint, with marquee matchups way before March Madness begins.
The most anticipated early season game is a Nov. 24 rematch between preseason No. 1 South Carolina and second-ranked UConn from their Final Four matchup last season. Many people remember UConn coach Geno Auriemma's meltdown in the handshake line when he yelled at South Carolina's Dawn Staley. The two seem to have patched things up publicly after that incident.
There's no doubt that the rematch at Mohegan Sun two days before Thanksgiving will have a lot of eyes on the pregame and postgame handshakes.
Here’s a look at some of the other best nonconference games taking place in November and December:
The four ranked teams will play in a doubleheader in Paris a day after Villanova and No. 13 Notre Dame tip off the season in a men's and women's basketball doubleheader in Rome. It's the fourth consecutive year that a women's game will be played in Paris and the second time that the Gamecocks will be involved.
JuJu Watkins makes her return to the national stage when the Trojans head across country to face the Gamecocks in Greenville, South Carolina. Watkins, who won the AP Player of the Year as a sophomore after tearing her ACL in the NCAA Tournament, is raring to go after sitting out last year while recovering from the injury.
The two teams will face off after Thanksgiving in Boston, where Duke coach Kara Lawson spent a season as an assistant for the NBA's Celtics before getting the Blue Devils job. UConn has won the last 11 meetings between the schools, although the teams haven't played since the 2023-24 season.
The annual ACC/SEC challenge will have a huge matchup with Hannah Hidalgo and the Fighting Irish visiting Mikayla Blakes and the Commodores. It's a rematch of last season's Sweet 16 matchup that the Irish won 67-64. Hidalgo had a huge game, with 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals and seven assists in that win.
South Carolina, Southern California, Duke, Texas, UCLA and Notre Dame will get together in Las Vegas for the second annual Players Era tournament. The first night will showcase a national championship rematch between UCLA and South Carolina. Duke plays Texas and Notre Dame takes on USC. That will feature two of the top players in the country, with Watkins and Hidalgo leading their teams.
The second night has Texas playing UCLA in a Final Four rematch, with Notre Dame-South Carolina and Duke-USC the other two games.
___
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college basketball coverage here
