South Carolina’s full men’s basketball schedule is out. Here are five observations
The South Carolina men’s basketball team has known its SEC opponents for a while, but now the Gamecocks know when they’ll take on their league rivals this season.
The SEC released its schedule Friday, finalizing what’s ahead for USC in 2018-19. The completed slate is below:
Oct. 26 – Augusta University (exhibition)
Nov. 6 – USC Upstate
Nov. 9 – Stony Brook (Hall of Fame Tip-Off)
Nov. 13 – Norfolk State (Hall of Fame Tip-Off)
Nov. 17 – vs. Providence ( Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Connecticut)
Nov. 18 –vs. Michigan OR George Washington ( Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Connecticut)
Nov. 26 – Wofford
Nov. 30 – Coastal Carolina
Dec. 5 – at Wyoming
Dec. 8 – at Michigan
Dec. 19 – Virginia
Dec. 22 – Clemson
Dec. 31 – North Greenville
Jan. 5 – at Florida*
Jan. 8 – Mississippi State*
Jan. 12 – Missouri*
Jan. 16 – at Vanderbilt*
Jan. 19 – at LSU*
Jan. 22 – Auburn*
Jan. 26 – at Oklahoma State
Jan. 29 – Tennessee*
Feb. 2 – at Georgia*
Feb. 5 – at Kentucky*
Feb. 9 – Arkansas*
Feb. 13 – at Tennessee*
Feb. 16 – Texas A&M*
Feb. 19 – Ole Miss*
Feb. 23 – at Mississippi State*
Feb. 26 – Alabama*
March 2 – at Missouri*
March 5 – at Texas A&M*
March 9 – Georgia*
*SEC game
Five observations:
-Should the Gamecocks take on Michigan on Nov. 18, that’ll give them 16 games against teams that appeared in last season’s NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines were national runners-up last season and will again be a top contender in the Big Ten. Previous Frank Martin-coached USC teams never faced more than seven opponents in the regular season that appeared in the Big Dance the year before.
-South Carolina opens SEC play with a road game for the sixth time in Martin’s seven seasons. The Gamecocks are 2-3 in these games, including last year’s 74-69 loss at Ole Miss.
-USC is closing the regular season at home for the first time since 2004-05. Yes, Chris Silva’s Senior Day on March 9 against Georgia will be the first time the Gamecocks are at Colonial Life Arena the game before the SEC Tournament since Carlos Powell’s Senior Day 14 years earlier.
-The Gamecocks play back-to-back home games just twice in SEC play -- hosting Mississippi State and Missouri Jan. 8-12; hosting Texas A&M and Ole Miss Feb. 16-19. They had this sequence three times last season, including Jan. 16-20 when Kentucky and Tennessee drew a combined 34,210 spectators to CLA. This marks the first time Carolina hasn’t had three sets of consecutive home SEC games since 2014-15.
-The SEC, coming off a year in which it sent a record number of teams to the NCAA Tournament, will again be loaded this season. So, really, any stretch of this schedule is challenging, but circle Jan. 19-29 on your calendar. A trip to Tremont Waters and LSU is followed by a home date against reigning league champion Auburn. After that, it’s the Big 12 Challenge at Oklahoma State and a home game against defending SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams and Tennessee. Those four teams went a combined 91-47 last season.
This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 11:03 AM.