C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
For starters, everyone will want to talk about opening up with Kentucky and I think that's a little more favorable than maybe getting Kentucky middle-to-end of SEC play. Kentucky is going to be no-doubt good (and a team I'll rank probably second in the SEC this season) but this won't be a Kentucky team that'll be world-beaters early in the season.
They have an elite prospect in BJ Boston but no other surefire NBA picks right now. There's talent on the roster, but Kentucky will be much better in late January, February and March than they will be on Dec. 29. South Carolina is going to be a lot more experienced than Kentucky, which is returning one key player in Keion Brooks. I'm not saying South Carolina's going to win, but it's favorable to get a team like that early.
Also the stretch right after Texas A&M—at Ole Miss, Tennessee, at LSU and at Missouri—is absolutely brutal and will really test South Carolina's team early in SEC play. Ole Miss should be improved and it's on the road, then the Gamecocks welcome my preseason No. 1 team in the SEC in Tennessee to Columbia with a road game at a top 25 LSU team and a darkhorse SEC team in Missouri on the road. If the Gamecocks can get a 2-2 record out that, it's a very good outcome.
Right after that, though, South Carolina gets into a really favorable stretch of winnable gams with home games against Auburn and Georgia and road games at Vandy and Florida. Auburn lost a lot from last year's surefire NCAA Tournament team, Georgia probably won't be all that great losing Anthony Edwards, Vandy is still rebuilding and Frank Martin seemingly always has Mike White's number more often than not.
The stretch to close the season as well is also favorable against a Mississippi State team that's lost all three of their leading players last season, then a road game at Georgia. The final home game against Arkansas will be tough but those two teams, barring injuries, should be pretty evenly matched.
No year in the SEC is easy and the Gamecocks have 15 games of the 18 against teams that finished in the top 100 in NET and 14 inside the top 100 in KenPom. If the Gamecocks, though, can get to 10 to 11 wins again in the league, which they've done four of the last five years, they should have a solid NCAA bubble resume.
They have an elite prospect in BJ Boston but no other surefire NBA picks right now. There's talent on the roster, but Kentucky will be much better in late January, February and March than they will be on Dec. 29. South Carolina is going to be a lot more experienced than Kentucky, which is returning one key player in Keion Brooks. I'm not saying South Carolina's going to win, but it's favorable to get a team like that early.
Also the stretch right after Texas A&M—at Ole Miss, Tennessee, at LSU and at Missouri—is absolutely brutal and will really test South Carolina's team early in SEC play. Ole Miss should be improved and it's on the road, then the Gamecocks welcome my preseason No. 1 team in the SEC in Tennessee to Columbia with a road game at a top 25 LSU team and a darkhorse SEC team in Missouri on the road. If the Gamecocks can get a 2-2 record out that, it's a very good outcome.
Right after that, though, South Carolina gets into a really favorable stretch of winnable gams with home games against Auburn and Georgia and road games at Vandy and Florida. Auburn lost a lot from last year's surefire NCAA Tournament team, Georgia probably won't be all that great losing Anthony Edwards, Vandy is still rebuilding and Frank Martin seemingly always has Mike White's number more often than not.
The stretch to close the season as well is also favorable against a Mississippi State team that's lost all three of their leading players last season, then a road game at Georgia. The final home game against Arkansas will be tough but those two teams, barring injuries, should be pretty evenly matched.
No year in the SEC is easy and the Gamecocks have 15 games of the 18 against teams that finished in the top 100 in NET and 14 inside the top 100 in KenPom. If the Gamecocks, though, can get to 10 to 11 wins again in the league, which they've done four of the last five years, they should have a solid NCAA bubble resume.
