Bracketology 2021: Georgia Tech, Memphis among week’s biggest losers
South Carolina Gamecocks
After making the Final Four a few years ago, South Carolina Basketball has struggled to get back into relevance. They’ve yet to make it to the NCAA Tournament and have been stuck in the mid-to-lower tier of the SEC. But with several key pieces back for this season, the Gamecocks were hopeful to break the streak.
And then came Liberty.
The Flames have already played multiple games in another event before playing this neutral-site matchup, while this was South Carolina’s first game of the season. It clearly showed, with Liberty taking control early and dominating en route to a 78-62 win.
Now, this isn’t the worst loss in the world, as the same team from the Atlantic Sun previously beat another SEC already in Mississippi State. Although, the Bulldogs may honestly be the worst team in the conference this season if Vandy and Georgia can get their act together.
As for South Carolina, this is a brutal start to the season. They’ll need to win at Houston next Saturday to not only make up for this loss but also avoid starting out 0-2. Other than a game against Clemson, it’ll be their last chance to impress in the non-conference, as the Gamecocks aren’t part of this year’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Next. Key player for each Big Ten team. dark
South Carolina does have a favorable league schedule, with just one game against Kentucky, LSU, and Alabama. But that also means that they won’t have many more chances at signature resume victories. Of course, they need to prove that they won’t take any more bad losses along the way to make them even matter.