ESPN's Joe Lunardi projects South Carolina basketball as 6 seed in NCAA Tournament bracketology

Lamont Paris and South Carolina basketball are rolling through the 2023-24 basketball season — and widely exceeding preseason expectations.

Entering the season with an entirely new starting five and a projected dead-last finish in the Southeastern Conference preseason poll, the Gamecocks have become one of the SEC's — and college basketball’s — more surprising teams. They sit in second of the conference with a 19-3 overall record, including 7-2 mark in conference play, heading into the final month of the regular season.

Over the last month — which includes ranked wins over then-No. 5 Tennessee and then-No. 6 Kentucky — South Carolina has joined the national conversation and seen its NCAA Tournament projection rise. In last week’s Coaches Poll, South Carolina was the unofficial No. 26 team in the country.

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In ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest NCAA Tournament projection, South Carolina is slated as a No. 6 seed in the West regional, with a first-round matchup against No. 11 seed Indiana State in Memphis, Tennessee.

“They’re climbing. It wasn’t that long ago, they were on the bubble. Now, you see them as a (6 seed) this morning … They’re going to be no worse than a 6 when we do a full, new bracket next week,” Lunardi said Saturday on ESPN before South Carolina took on Georgia (a 72-62 Gamecocks win).

“Who knows? A 5 could happen for them. But right now, they’re 24th, which means they’re at the bottom of the six-line. They would have to leapfrog four other teams to get into a No. 5."

The Gamecocks were tabbed with Team of the Week honors by the NCAA's Andy Katz following their 2-0 week on the road with wins at Tennessee and Georgia.

South Carolina NCAA Tournament resume

South Carolina has quite a few quality wins to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume, with most coming in conference play.

South Carolina snagged its biggest win of the season this past week when it took down the Vols on the road in Knoxville. The Gamecocks also hold home wins against both Kentucky and Mississippi State and a road win at Georgia.

Based on the NCAA’s Net Rankings, South Carolina holds a 7-2 combined record in Quadrant 1and Quadrant 2 games — wins vs. top 75 teams in the NET at home, top 100 on neutral courts and top 135 on the road — and an overall NET Ranking of 38.

South Carolina’s remaining regular season schedule

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina projected 6 seed in NCAA Tournament by ESPN's Joe Lunardi