Fort Myers Tip-Off game details revealed for South Carolina basketball

Earlier this offseason, news surfaced that the South Carolina basketball team would play in an early-season tournament. The Fort Myers Tip-Off Beach Division would feature the South Carolina Gamecocks, Michigan Wolverines, Virginia Tech Hokies, and Xavier Musketeers, but it was unknown which teams would play each other.

On Wednesday, though, that changed as CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported that Lamont Paris' team will face off with Sean Miller's Xavier squad.

An unintended irony sits behind the matchup as Miller was viewed by many as a leading candidate for the Carolina head coaching vacancy before Paris was hired. Instead, Miller returned to Xavier (he also coached there from 2001-2009, including five years as the head coach), and Paris became the 33rd coach in the Gamecocks' history.

The Gamecocks and Musketeers each have had one bad season and one strong showing under their new head coaches, but USC was much better during the 2023-2024 campaign, displaying a sure vertical trajectory. South Carolina found themselves in the NCAA Tournament last year, while Xavier finished with a losing record. Even so, Rothstein's current "Rothstein 45" rankings include the Musketeers but not the Gamecocks.

The game between South Carolina and Xavier is set to take place on November 25th, and the Gamecocks will play either the Michigan Wolverines or the Virginia Tech Hokies on November 27th.

The Xavier matchup is joined on the South Carolina basketball non-conference schedule by the annual rivalry against the Clemson Tigers (likely sometime in November), the season opener against the North Florida Ospreys (November 4th), a road trip to Bloomington to face the Indiana Hoosiers (November 16th), the ACC/SEC Challenge battle against the Boston College Eagles (December 3rd), a return game at home against the East Carolina Pirates (December 7th), and a pre-Christmas game against the Radford Highlanders (December 22nd).