Texas Longhorns and South Carolina Gamecocks Split SEC Regular Season Title, Coin Toss Decides No. 1 Seed

On Jan. 12, Texas dropped its first SEC game against defending national champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team finished the regular season with a 28-2 record, tying the South Carolina Gamecocks for the best mark in the conference.

Both teams also went 13-0 in SEC play, setting up a unique situation for the conference tournament.

With the shared record and both teams set to be top-four seeds in the upcoming women’s basketball tournament, the SEC had to make a decision on which team would be seeded higher out of necessity.

The conference leaders arrived at halftime of the matchup between Ole Miss and LSU at the Moody Center in Austin.

After Texas trounced Florida and South Carolina survived a scare against No. 15 Kentucky, the scene was set for the SEC commissioner to make the decision.

Coming onstage to thunderous applause, Greg Sankey took on the role of fate, spinning a coin to decide which team would be seeded No. 1.

The decision rested on a coin toss because both teams' records, including their head-to-head matchup, were identical.

The Gamecocks got lucky this time, as the Longhorns will enter the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed, while South Carolina will be seeded No. 1.

The two teams' paths to the Elite Eight will begin on Friday, March 7, in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.

Texas will be kicking off the tournament action at 6 p.m. ET, facing the winner of second round game seven. As the No. 2 seed, the Longhorns will be advancing to the tournament for the first time since 2003.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks' first game will commence at noon ET, where they will be confronting the winner of game five.

Despite heading to the tournament for the first time, Texas coach Vic Schaefer is no stranger to the environment, having spent eight years at Mississippi State.

Today's shared title marks Schaefer's third SEC regular season win, with the first two taking place in Starkville during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Notably, the Bulldogs also won the tournament in 2019.

The first round of the SEC Championship will begin on Monday, March 5.