Backstory: Why South Carolina And Notre Dame Are Opening Season In Paris

Working to build on the momentum of the most watched NCAA Tournament in women's basketball history, South Carolina and Notre Dame open the regular season on Monday night with the first ever NCAA basketball game, men's or women's, to be played in Paris.

The teams announced the game back in April and Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley said the team "did not hesitate" to take the "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.

"It's always been my mission to break barriers and provide opportunities for my players to have life-changing experiences," Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said. "Women's basketball is on the rise right now, and having this exposure continues to grow the game on an international platform."

The event is being organized by Complete Sports Management, the company that puts on the annual Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. CMS president Lea Miller-Tooley told The State that this has been an idea of hers for a long time.

"This (game) is so significant because, No. 1, it’s never been done before,” Miller-Tooley said. “No. 2, we’re launching history with women. And No. 3, the significance is the timing. Where we are in history, where we are with the movement and women’s college basketball, and showcasing the beauty that this sport is. The timing could not be better."

The 2023 NCAA Tournament saw record viewership with the National Championship game between LSU and Iowa was the most watched women's college basketball game on record with 9.9 million viewers, while the tournament as a whole was up 55% for an average of 983,000 viewers.

Both teams are ranked in the top-10 of the AP Preseason Poll with South Carolina coming in at No. 6 and Notre Dame No. 10.

South Carolina lost five key members of its 2023 Final Four team to the WNBA Draft, but return Raven Johnson and Camilla Cardoso that will carry on the Gamecocks' momentum.

Notre Dame returns its core from a Sweet 16 team, including its top three scorers in Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld, and Olivia Miles who could miss the start of the season as she continues to rehab from a torn ACL suffered during the NCAA Tournament.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 1 p.m. on Monday afternoon.