Where USC’s NCAA Tournament projections stand ahead of the SEC Tournament

Fresh off an SEC Coach of the Year announcement, Lamont Paris is leading South Carolina men’s basketball to the SEC Tournament this week. Postseason basketball is just about to begin, making final speculations for March Madness that much more interesting.

Selection Sunday is only seven days away, and here’s where projections are saying the Gamecocks (25-6, 13-5 SEC) could land come March 14.

AP Top 25 update

The Gamecocks jumped up two spots in the AP Poll, climbing to No. 15 after splitting their final week of the regular season. It’s now the third time this year where South Carolina has landed inside the top 15. USC is ranked No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

South Carolina fell in its home finale to then-No. 4 Tennessee, 66-59 on Wednesday before winning its season finale at Mississippi State, 93-89, in overtime on Saturday. The Gamecocks swept the matchups with the Bulldogs while splitting its two games with the Vols this year.

USC is one of five SEC programs in the AP Poll this week and was bumped to the fourth-highest ranking in the conference, leap frogging No. 19 Alabama. Other ranked programs are No. 5 Tennessee, No. 9 Kentucky and No. 12 Auburn.

South Carolina’s NCAA Tournament Projections

South Carolina is a consensus No. 5 seed heading into conference tournament week, according to Bracket Matrix. Other five seeds include BYU, San Diego State and Clemson, according to the 108 brackets averaged together.

CBS Sports’ bracket, comprised by Jerry Palm, has South Carolina as a No. 5 seed facing No. 12 seeded Richmond in the first round in Salt Lake City. On the other side of the regional, No. 4 BYU and No. 13 UC Irvine would face off to determine a winner for the Round of 32. CBS Sports lists the Gamecocks in the West quadran. The bracket was last updated Monday morning.

ESPN’s bracket, done by Joe Lunardi, lists USC as a No. 5 seed as well, facing No. 12 South Florida in the first round of the Pittsburgh regional. No. 4 Kansas and No. 13 McNesse would be opposite the Gamecocks for the second round matchup. This bracket has USC in the East quadrant, with UConn as the No. 1 seed. It was last updated Monday morning.

USC’s March Madness resume

South Carolina finished its regular season with a NET ranking at No. 49, after finishing the year going 7-3. The Gamecocks were undefeated in Quad 2 and Quad 4 games, and went 4-4 in Quad 1 and 5-2 against Quad 3 opponents.

The NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) factors in strength of schedule and the quality of a team’s victories and strength of schedule, among other things, as a metric the NCAA selection committee uses for Selection Sunday. For neutral site games, Quad 1 opponents are NET rankings 1-50, Quad 2 are 51-100, Quad 3 is 101-200 and Quad 4 is 201-364.

The Gamecocks won’t know their first opponent in the SEC tournament until Wednesday evening, but it will be either Vanderbilt or Arkansas. The Commodores would be considered another Quad 4 game, with Vanderbilt at No. 203 in NET, and the Razorbacks are considered a Quad 3 game, sitting at No. 109.

Lamont Paris is 0-1 all-time as a head coach in the NCAA tournament, after falling in the first road at Chattanooga during the 2021-22 season. He’s reached the national championship game during the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach at Wisconsin and Final Four during the 2013-14. He helped lead the Badgers to seven straight tournament appearances, from 2011-17, and made the Division II NCAA Final Four as an assistant at IUP in 2001-02.

Gamecocks’ upcoming schedule

USC plays its first game in the SEC Tournament on Thursday, March 14 against the winner of No. 13 Vanderbilt and No. 14 Arkansas in the second round of the event. The Gamecocks were snubbed of the double-bye into the quarterfinals after Alabama and Kentucky picked up respective, and necessary, end-of-season wins. South Carolina finished the regular season in a four-way tie for second place, but its round-robin record against Alabama, Kentucky and Auburn booted the Gamecocks out of the extra day of rest.

South Carolina is now in survive-and-advance-mode for fight for its first-ever SEC Tournament title and a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament. The rest of the season is all single-elimination games, meaning once a team is lost, they are left waiting for their March Madness fate.

When is Selection Sunday?

The March Madness Selection Sunday show is 6 p.m. March 17 and will be broadcast on CBS.

What are the NCAA Tournament dates?

The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be March 21-24. Game times for those rounds will be announced following Selection Sunday.

The 2024 SEC Tournament Schedule

The SEC men’s basketball tournament is March 13-17 in Nashville, Tennessee. It will be a single-elimination bracket, with the top four teams receiving first- and second-round byes into the quarterfinals. The championship game will be on Sunday afternoon on ESPN.

2024 SEC men’s basketball tournament schedule

Wednesday, March 13

Game 1: No. 13 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 Arkansas, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

Game 2: No. 14 Missouri vs. No. 11 Georgia, begins 25 minutes after previous game ends (SEC Network)

Thursday, March 14

Game 3: No. 9 Mississippi State vs. No. 8 LSU, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)

Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. No. 5 South Carolina, begins 25 minutes after previous game ends(SEC Network)

Game 5: No. 10 Ole Miss vs. No. 7 Texas A&M, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

Game 6: Winner of Game 2 vs. No. 6 Florida, begins 25 minutes after previous game ends (SEC Network)

Friday, March 15 (Quarterfinals)

Game 7: Winner of Game 3 vs. No. 1 Tennessee, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 8: Winner of Game 4 vs. No. 4 Auburn, begins 25 minutes after previous game ends(ESPN)

Game 9: Winner of Game 5 vs. No. 2 Kentucky, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 10: Winner of Game 6 vs. No. 3 Alabama, begins 25 minutes after previous game ends (ESPN)

Saturday, March 16 (Semifinals)

Game 11: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 12: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10, begins 25 minutes after previous game ends (ESPN)

Sunday, March 17 (Championship)

Game 13: Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12, 1 p.m. (ESPN)