South Carolina Basketball: Updated NCAA Tournament picture for red hot Gamecocks

South Carolina basketball fans are having fun this season. After a decidedly not fun 2022-2023 campaign in which the Gamecocks tied a program record for losses with 21, Lamont Paris has turned things around this year and has USC in contention for the SEC regular season championship, an NCAA Tournament berth almost feels like a guarantee for the garnet and black.

Carolina has, in the last two weeks, blown out Arkansas on the road, smacked 6th-ranked Kentucky in Colonial Life Arena, beaten Missouri at home, and taken down the #5 Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville. The four-game winning streak has the Gamecocks at 18-3 on the season and 6-2 in the SEC. They also are in 2nd place in the SEC behind only Alabama.

But where is South Carolina basketball in the postseason picture?

According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi and his latest Bracketology, the Gamecocks project as a 6-seed heading into March Madness. In Lunardi's potential bracket, USC is matched up with 11-seed Indiana State with a game against the winner of 3-seed Creighton and 14-seed Morehead State.

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein has the Gamecocks firmly in his field of 68. Prior to beating Tennessee, Andy Katz of NCAA.com had South Carolina basketball as the 25th-best team in the country in his weekly Power 36, meaning they will be even higher next week barring something unforeseen happening this weekend against Georgia. Both Rothstein and Katz have said enough good things about Carolina to indicate they view the Gamecocks as a high seed right now.

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm might be the highest on Lamont Paris' group out of all the national analysts as he projects the CourtCocks as a 4-seed right now. In his bracketology, the Gamecocks are taking on UC-Irvine in the opening round before a potential matchup with the winner of Utah State-McNeese State. Palm's bracket has USC in the same bracket as 1-overall seed UConn.

Lamont Paris and the Gamecocks will look to continue their impressive play on the road on Saturday against Georgia. The game will tip off at 1:00 and will be broadcast on the SECNetwork.