Magic number: USC’s 16th 20-win season in history

South Carolina continues to hit program milestones in its fourth year under Frank Martin. But as much as they’re welcomed, he’s approaching them the same way he does his schedule.

"We’re one of, I don’t know, three, four teams in the country that have won 20 games this year? So obviously, we’ve done something right," Martin said Monday. "But that’s not our goal, that’s not what we get excited about. When the time comes, we look backwards to reflect where we’re at compared to where we’ve been."

He was referring to his first three squads, which posted a high of 17 wins. Saturday’s win at No. 8 Texas A&M made the Gamecocks 20-3, and set them up for a two-game home stand that could have them knocking on the door of an SEC regular-season championship.

Martin and his team are fully into the "one game a time" sermon so it’s up to the outsiders to point out how unique their season is becoming. The 20^th win put them alongside a mere 15 others in USC history. Fourteen of them – the one absence ironically USC’s winningest team – made the postseason.

The 1969-70 team won 25 games and went unbeaten in the ACC, but was denied an NCAA tournament berth after losing the ACC tournament championship. The Gamecocks did not go to the NIT, unlike the previous season, but every other 20-win USC team has gone to the NIT or NCAA tournament. The 1969-70 team still has the most single-season wins in program history.

USC last won 20 games in 2008-09, an SEC East championship year that ended in the NIT. A weak strength of schedule and a down year in the SEC denied the Gamecocks an NCAA tournament bid, and they went one-and-done in the NIT with a loss to Davidson and future NBA MVP Stephen Curry.

While there are concerns about the Gamecocks’ strength of schedule this year (190 despite the win at A&M), three more wins should have them comfortably in the NCAA tournament no matter the other numbers. That would also give them 10 SEC wins for the first time since 2008-09, and be only the sixth time in 25 years that the Gamecocks have had a .500 or better SEC season.

Martin isn’t talking postseason and isn’t talking league standings, although he and his team know what’s at stake this week. Wednesday’s opponent, LSU, leads the league at 8-2 while the Gamecocks, Saturday opponent Kentucky and A&M are second at 7-3.

"Do I know that if we win Wednesday, we’re in first place? Yeah, of course I know that, and our players know that," Martin said. "They don’t need me to tell them. It’s my job to get them ready to win the game."

Martin drew on personal history on why he’s not hyping his present position too much. In his first year at Kansas State, the Wildcats were 8-2 in the Big 12 with six games to go. Being a rookie head coach, Martin was congratulating himself and thinking how pretty that title trophy would look in his office.

K-State lost its next four. It made the NCAA tournament, but that first-place status became a third-place finish.

The Gamecocks might know about their current position but they feigned ignorance on Monday. Sindarius Thornwell knows too well how hot starts can become frigid finishes.

"I just know we’re somewhere at the top," he said of the standings. "We try not to get into it and try not to get excited because it can always change. We can always go in a slump and momentum will switch."

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Magic number: USC’s 16th 20-win season in history."