Bracketology 2024: Seton Hall, UNC, Utah State and Oregon among week's big winners

South Carolina Gamecocks

Last season, South Carolina went 11-21 overall and 12th in the SEC, despite having a future 1st-round NBA Draft pick on the roster (GG Jackson). Some minor changes were made and the team had a successful non-conference campaign by their standards, going 11-1.

But from a Bracketology perspective, the Gamecocks don’t have the greatest of resumes. They do have wins over Virginia Tech, Grand Canyon, as well as DePaul and Notre Dame. Yet none of them are real quality wins, especially the last two. But with only one loss (Clemson), they have a clean slate to make some noise in SEC play.

And that they did, getting a good win over Mississippi State at home. The final score was 68-62, led by 24 points from Meechie Johnson and 15 points from Myles Stute. The Bulldogs have a NET ranking in the 30’s, making this a clear Quad 2 victory. And the Gamecocks are around 50, squarely putting them on the bubble radar.

This win puts the pressure off for the upcoming week, as South Carolina now goes on the road to take on Alabama and Missouri. A split would be ideal but thanks to beating Mississippi State, they’re at least guaranteed to avoid going 0-3 to start.