NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament cinderellas since 2000
By Adam Childs
11) 2017 South Carolina Gamecocks, No. 7-seed
Record: 26-11, Final Four
Beat: (10) Marquette Golden Eagles, (2) Duke Blue Devils, (3) Baylor Bears, (4) Florida Gators
The South Carolina Gamecocks join the list of one of the least likely teams to make it to the Final Four. South Carolina finished the year just 22-10 and lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament to the Alabama Crimson Tide. They weren’t exactly playing their best basketball at the end of the year and as a No. 7-seed. They were mostly forgotten about.
If anyone wasn’t paying attention to the Gamecocks, they soon would be after they upset the Duke Blue Devils in the Round of 32. After easily beating the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first round by 20 points, South Carolina would meet the Blue Devils.
The Gamecocks trailed by seven at halftime, but exploded for 65 points in the second half to erase that deficit and win by seven. Sindarius Thornwell led the team in scoring for the second consecutive game with 24 points.
Frank Martin had his team playing some of their best basketball of the year starting with that second half. They continued it into the next round when the blew out the Baylor Bears by 20.
Thornwell again had 24 points to continue his hot run. He would add 26 more points in their Elite Eight win against the Florida Gators to send them to their first Final Four in school history.
Their dream would end in the Final Four, as the Gonzaga Bulldogs held Thornwell to just 15 points, his first game under 20 points for the NCAA Tournament. Their dream run may have ended a game short, but Thornwell helped lead the Gamecocks to their best finish in school history.