NCAA Basketball: Ranking final 18 unbeaten teams for 2023-24 season
By Joey Loose
17. South Carolina
The only trip that these Gamecocks have made to the NCAA Tournament in the last fifteen years was that surprise run to the Final Four back in 2017. Things are much different in Columbia since that journey and second-year head coach Lamont Paris is hoping to build his own success at South Carolina. They won just 11 games last year in his debut season, though things are certainly trending upwards here in year two.
It’s been six games and six wins for South Carolina, who survived a fight with Virginia Tech in the opening week of the season. While the Gamecocks also boast wins over DePaul (neutral-site) and Notre Dame (at home), they’re other impressive win was over Grand Canyon a few weeks ago to win the Arizona Tip-Off, knocking off a sneaky solid mid-major power in the southwest. B. J. Mack in particular played great and has not been the only Gamecock playing inspired ball.
It’s easy to look at the schedule and be a bit underwhelmed, though South Carolina isn’t exactly expected to be a contender this season. They’ve won games over three other power conference programs but will likely be overwhelmed by at least half of the SEC teams later on in the season. For now, the Gamecocks relish this hot start, though a very tough road test at rival Clemson awaits on December 6th.