We saw the SEC dominate college basketball all last season, and we should see similar results this year as well. Although the conference might not be quite as loaded with talent, there are still multiple teams that can compete for the SEC title as well as an NCAA Tournament title. As we barrel towards the opening days of the season, here are the SEC power rankings following an exciting offseason:
16. South Carolina Gamecocks
2024-25 Record: 12-20 (2-16 SEC)
South Carolina might be in a tier of its own as we enter the 2025-26 season. Nearly all of the roster is gone from last year, for better or worse, and Lamont Paris heads into his fourth season in Columbia with one of the weaker rosters in the SEC. Don’t get me wrong, Paris has proven that he can coach a solid team, as he did two seasons ago, but his current roster lacks top-end talent, which defaults SC to the bottom of these power rankings.
For most of last season, I felt that South Carolina was a decent team that simply couldn’t find ways to win games. There were many times, mostly in home games against the top teams in the conference, that the Gamecocks were on the verge of a major upset, only to come up short. Fast forward to this offseason, and I feel much less confident about this South Carolina team than I did a few months ago. Nearly every player from last year's roster is no longer on the team, including Murray-Boyles, who left college early for an NBA career. The only returning contributors are Myles Stute (5.4 ppg), Cam Scott (2.5 ppg), and Jordan Butler (1.8 ppg). Head Coach Lamont Paris added a couple of exciting freshmen, but mostly filled out the roster with transfer portal additions - notably Meechie Johnson (9.1 ppg), who returns to South Carolina following a season at OSU.
There’s always a chance that Lamont Paris can once again surprise the college basketball world, but it's a very slim chance. On paper, I just don’t see how this team can score. Much of the offensive workload will be placed on Johnson's shoulders, but other than Elijah Strong (9.6 ppg at Boston College) and Mike Sharavjamts (7.2 ppg at Utah), the Gamecocks don’t have many experienced scorers at a power conference level. However, there is always the defensive upside for Paris-led teams. His slow tempo allows for a weaker offense, but I don’t know if the defense will get it done this year.
Luckily for the Gamecocks, starting at the bottom of these power rankings only means that they can move up the list.