UConn, South Carolina schedule November rematch, months after Geno Auriemma's Final Four blowup at Dawn Staley

UConn and South Carolina aren’t letting bad blood get in the way of good basketball.

Months after a contentious Final Four confrontation between coaches Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley, the Huskies and Gamecocks are running it back.

The Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday that UConn and South Carolina will face off on Nov. 24 in its Women’s Showcase double-header. National champion UCLA will take on St. John’s in the other game.

The games will technically be played at a neutral location at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT. But expect a significant home-court advantage for the Huskies, who will be playing roughly 30 miles from their campus in Storrs.

Quick turnaround from Final Four blowup

The UConn-South Carolina game offers an early marquee matchup on the 2026-27 calendar, less than eight months removed from the powers meeting in the Final Four.

South Carolina stunned UConn in the national semifinal, handing the previously undefeated Huskies their first loss and ending their hopes of securing a second consecutive NCAA championship.

But Auriemma’s postgame antics quickly overshadowed what up to that point was the biggest game and result of the college basketball season. In lieu of congratulations, Auriemma “said what I had to say” to Staley in a premature postgame handshake line. Staley fired back, and Auriemma was pushed away from the confrontation by members of his coaching staff.

Auriemma said in his postgame news conference that he was upset that Staley didn’t shake his hand pregame.