Three narratives to follow as USC men’s basketball starts SEC play
Buy games, tune-ups and standalone matchups are over. SEC play is here.
A year after finishing last in the Southeastern Conference and just a few short months from being voted last in the preseason media poll, South Carolina men’s basketball’s 2026 SEC slate is set to begin at home Saturday against No. 11 Vanderbilt (13-0).
The SEC, following a record 14 teams in the NCAA tournament last season, looks to be just as competitive this year. Five SEC teams are in the top-25 of KenPom’s NET rankings and all 16 teams are in the top 100 — with Vandy the highest at No. 8 and South Carolina the lowest at No. 85. A recent ESPN bracketology includes nine SEC programs, second in the NCAA behind the Big 10 and Big 12 (10 each).
The Gamecocks (9-4) have their work cut out for them. Can they stay afloat? Here are three key narratives to follow for USC’s conference slate:
Which Meechie Johnson will be there?
Meechie Johnson’s return to USC started as one of the top feel-good stories of the 2025-26 season.
Johnson had already flip-flopped from Ohio State to the Gamecocks and back again since the 2020-21 season, but his connection to USC head coach Lamont Paris made Columbia the right place to return and play his sixth year of college basketball.
The feel-good level of Johnson’s final season has gone up and down with his play. Johnson is still USC’s leading scorer and passer this season with 13.9 points and 3.6 assists per game on 42% shooting. But his consistency has left much to be desired. Some nights, Johnson is the hero — other nights, he’s a non-factor.
Johnson has scored more than 20 points in two games this season, and he’s had two games with less than five points. In the latter games, he combined for eight total field-goal attempts. Against Clemson, Johnson didn’t score his first point until there was 8:16 left in the game.
While Johnson recognizes he’s expected to lead USC on offense, he said after the 68-61 loss to the Tigers Dec. 16 that he’ll never force shots just to say he played aggressive.
“I’m not the type of person to force it. I’m a point guard, so my job is to, if I’m not getting the looks I want, get other people good looks,” he said. “I am a scoring guard, though, so I do realize when it’s times where I gotta pick it up a little bit, but I don’t try to force it early, you know?”
He did have a team-high 15 points in the team’s latest win over Albany.
USC will likely never ask Johnson to “force it” against SEC opponents, but going into a conference matchup not knowing which version of Johnson will take the floor could certainly raise concerns.
Time to cut back on 3-pointers?
One of the first declarations Paris made about his team, way back at USC’s Garnet and Black Madness preseason event Oct. 21, went as such:
“We’re gonna shoot a lot of 3s this year,” he told the audience. “Hopefully we make ‘em.”
So far, only one of those claims has rung true consistently. The Gamecocks enter SEC play with the sixth-most attempted 3-pointers per game (28.1) in the conference, but have made their 3-pointers at the second-worst percentage (31.2%).
Paris has been asked if USC’s shooting struggles could ever reach a point where he decides to cut back the volume. So far, it hasn’t happened.
“At the end of the day, guys have to figure it out. They have to have a good relationship with their shot and know if they need to tweak it,” Paris said after USC shot 15% on 3-pointers against Clemson. “Got a couple of guys that are probably overdoing it, in terms of how many shots they’re getting up in order to try to shake it off a little. We’re still working on it.”
Race to the bottom
The Gamecocks were picked last in the SEC and are currently last (No. 85 nationally) among SEC teams in the NET, four spots behind Mississippi State (81). The next closest is Missouri at No. 64. That’s all to say this: Generally, the opinion that USC will finish last in the SEC hasn’t changed much, and analytics point to the prediction being spot on so far.
USC has struggled against the best NET teams this season with an 0-4 record against top-100 opponents in non-conference play.
A second-straight season finishing last in the SEC after an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024 could bring some troubling implications for Paris and his staff’s future at USC. If the Gamecocks can’t produce a positive record against its fellow SEC underachievers, it may be another year at the bottom.
“I’m concerned with improving more than anything. ... We like to play those games. You like to win those games. They can really help you out,” Paris said. “But our medal will be tested in the SEC like no one else is.”
South Carolina men’s basketball 2026 SEC schedule
Rankings as of Dec. 22
- Saturday: vs. No. 11 Vanderbilt, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
- Tuesday: at LSU, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
- Jan. 10: vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
- Jan. 14: at No. 18 Arkansas, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 17: at Auburn, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 20: vs. Oklahoma, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 24: at Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 28: vs. No. 22 Florida, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 31: vs. LSU, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 3: at Texas, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 7: vs. Missouri, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 14: at No. 14 Alabama, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 17: at No. 22 Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 21: vs. Mississippi State, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 24: vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 28: at No. 23 Georgia, 3:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- March 3: vs. No. 19 Tennessee, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
- March 7: at Ole Miss, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
- March 11-March 15: SEC Tournament in Nashville
