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Men’s basketball SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 29: Vols near the top

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 06: Tennessee Volunteers fans try to distract a free throw attempt by PJ Washington
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 06: Tennessee Volunteers fans try to distract a free throw attempt by PJ Washington /
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Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images /

Last week: Defeated Florida Gators; Lost to Texas Tech Red Raiders

Last rank: 8th

After a rough start to the season and conference play, the South Carolina Gamecocks are finally starting to get a rhythm. Frank Martin’s team has had a brutal stretch the past four weeks, but going 2-2 during that stretch is pretty impressive.

They gave a very good Texas Tech Red Raiders team all it could handle over the weekend. Before that, they beat the Florida Gators. As we’ve said all year, this clearly isn’t the team that went to the Final Four last year.

But South Carolina is a team that has done enough at this point to just be in the top half of our SEC Power Rankings. And as of this moment, they are squarely a bubble team when it comes to trying to make the NCAA Tournament.

South Carolina is No. 53 in the RPI with the No. 36 overall ranked strength of schedule. As a result, if the season ended today, they’d likely just be outside of the NCAA Tournament with a possible chance of squeaking in.

However, they are about to have another tough run to really define them. A home game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs is next and should be winnable. But then they have two road games against the Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks. That follows the Florida Gators at home, the Tennessee Vols on the road and the Auburn Tigers at home.

Five straight games against Top 40 RPI teams will define them. They need to win three of them to look legitimate. And with three on the road, that’ll be tough.

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