Frank Martin lines up aggressive non-conference schedule

South Carolina is taking no chances of the NCAA tournament selection committee snubbing it again.

The Gamecocks released their non-conference schedule Tuesday and it’s full of the kind of teams designed to impress the committee. USC will face eight postseason teams from a year ago, including four NCAA tournament teams, and the slate is full of the kind of “name” teams that should come in handy in March.

The committee honored teams that aggressively scheduled last year, even without a win. USC, which beat every non-conference team in the regular season last year on the way to tying a school record with 25 wins, hopes to extend its winning streak.

“Once again we have challenged our guys by playing difficult away games and continuing to excite our fans with some great home matchups,” coach Frank Martin said in a statement.

USC will host Michigan and play Seton Hall and 2016 Final Four participant Syracuse in New York City. The Gamecocks also host Monmouth, like them a No. 1 NIT seed a year ago; Clemson, which returns first-team All-ACC selection Jaron Blossomgame; and travel to Memphis.

They’ll also take on NCAA tournament team Holy Cross in their second home game, part of three games in five days. USC opens the season on Nov. 11 against Louisiana Tech, then plays the Crusaders on Nov. 13 and Monmouth on Nov. 15.

USC returns to Barclays Arena, where it has a 2-0 record, to play the Orange on Nov. 26 and will be in Madison Square Garden to play Seton Hall on Dec. 12. The Gamecocks host Martin’s alma mater, Florida International, on Dec. 4 and finish a home-and-home series at USF on Dec. 17.

They’ll finish with Clemson and then travel to Memphis, which hired former Gamecock assistant Tubby Smith during the offseason. Martin also continued the tradition of scheduling a non-Division I in-state team by adding Division II Lander on Dec. 27.

A series with Massachusetts, agreed upon in conjunction with the Minutemen’s football team visiting Columbia in 2016, will begin in 2017-18 with the Gamecocks going to Amherst first.

The SEC should release its conference schedule soon. The Gamecocks’ three home-and-home opponents are Georgia, Mississippi State and Tennessee.