Saturday's bubble watch

South Carolina’s key numbers: 20-6 overall, 9-4 SEC, first place in the East. RPI rank of 39, SOS of 89.
What just happened: The bubble is starting to get a bit stronger, so it’s a good thing South Carolina put itself in prime position with Wednesday’s victory against Kentucky.
Miami is in better shape after winning at [...]

Updated brackets

As we get down the stretch, the mock brackets are coming fast and furious. Therefore, sports fans, we have Friday updates!
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has South Carolina as a No. 9 seed, facing Wisconsin in the first round. The next-round matchup would be North Carolina.
Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com is still a bit more skeptical of the [...]

Revisiting the nonconference schedule

Before the SEC season started much was made, including in this space, about South Carolina’s nonconference schedule. It was suggested, in this space and in others, it would end up costing the Gamecocks in the computer rankings.
 It has, but maybe not as much as anticipated. That’s thanks to a few teams – two in this [...]

Knight and Musberger, coming to campus

For those of you who wanted Bob Knight to get the job here last year … well the general will be here a bit late, and in a different role.
ESPN just announced that it has picked up the South Carolina-Tennessee game, and it will be called by Brent Musberger with Knight as the color analyst. [...]

Thursday's bubble watch

I was stopped by several people Wednesday night – including one member of the USC board of trustees – who said they were enjoying the bubble watch. So I guess I have to keep it up.
Even though the Gamecocks are largely making the point moot.

South Carolina’s key numbers: 20-6 overall, 9-4 SEC, first place in [...]

Downey vs. Meeks

A couple good postgame quotes from Kentucky that shouldn’t escape notice, and they both involve Devan Downey:
First from Patrick Patterson:
“He was one of the X factors out there. Any game he’s in, he’s always the X factor. He’s able to penetrate to the basket and do so much for that team. When the ball’s in [...]

Wednesday's bubble watch

South Carolina’s key numbers: 19-6 overall, 8-4 SEC, in a two-way tie for first in the SEC East. RPI rank of 44, SOS of 93.
What just happened: On the whole Tuesday was a good night for South Carolina – as long as it takes care of business tonight and later.
Why the caveat? Well Florida’s loss [...]

Tuesday's bubble watch

South Carolina’s key numbers: 19-6 overall, 8-4 SEC, in a three-way tie for first in the SEC East. RPI rank of 44, SOS of 93.
What just happened: Bye, bye Georgetown. The Hoyas will now have to pretty much win out to make the tournament, so there goes one bubble competitor. 
There might be some clarity in [...]

Who voted for USC

In this week’s AP poll, South Carolina received eight “votes” or points, as we’ve beaten to death so far.
Three voters, all in SEC country, actually had USC in their poll:
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader and Mike Griffith of the Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel had the Gamecocks 23rd. Will Vandervort of the Seneca (S.C.) Daily Journal-Messenger [...]

The bracketologists weigh in

The Monday brackets are up.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects South Carolina as a No. 11 seed, and not among his last four in the NCAA tournament. In Lunardi’s scenario, USC would face Syracuse in the first round, with a potential second-round matchup with Duke.
The SEC gets five teams in Lunardi’s bracket, but interestingly first-place LSU has [...]