Gamecocks Considered Tournament Lock By ESPN Insider

South Carolina's men's basketball team is considered, as of now, a lock for the NCAA tournament, per ESPN Insider John Gasaway.

We are getting closer to March, which only means one thing. March Madness is right around the corner. Conference tournaments will be here before you know it, and then Selection Sunday will arrive. ESPN Insider John Gasaway has South Carolina as a solid single-digit middle seed, essentially a lock, to make the big dance. In a recent article, he went into more depth about NET rankings and how they're viewed compared to other metrics.

"Though the exact numbers will vary by day, Saint Mary's is often one of the top 20 or even top 15 teams in the country, according to the NET. South Carolina will usually be found about 30 spots lower," Gasaway pointed out. "It's a challenge that, of course, long predates the creation of the NET as the NCAA's preferred 'sorting' mechanism. The very different NET rankings posted by the Gamecocks and the Gaels match what you'll also find at KenPom, for example. Then again, South Carolina has far fewer losses than SMC," John continued. "So-called résumé metrics such as strength of record (SOR) rank the Gamecocks much higher than they do the Gaels. The NCAA men's basketball committee relies on both types of rating systems when it evaluates teams."

Lamont Paris applauds his team's play during their game against the Vanderbilt Commodores (10th Feb., 2024) / Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

While Gasaway acknowledged the NET isn't the only factor that goes into the committees' choices, he has said that tendencies have surfaced over the past three years: "No team ranked higher than No. 38 in the NET has missed the cut in the past three years. At the same time, no team lower than No. 77 has earned an at-large bid over that span."

With all that being said, a decent number of media members consider South Carolina a lock for the NCAA tournament right now. However, like Coach Paris noted last Saturday, after the team's past two losses, you can always learn something from victories and losses, which'll be critical for the Gamecocks over the next few weeks.

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