It's crunch time for a lot of teams in college basketball, and South Carolina's one of them.
The Gamecocks (18-12, 10-7 SEC) are fresh off a win over Mississippi State and are firmly on the bubble as they get ready for their regular season finale Saturday.
It's been an interesting year for the bubble and the Gamecocks have a solid resume but need more to go right as they finish up. Here's a look at what the Gamecocks have done this year and what they still need to do.
Where the Gamecocks stand in Bracketology: South Carolina is still in Joe Lunardi's Next Four Out, but the Gamecocks did move up a few spots and are on the cusp of moving into the First Four Out. They're mixed in with Purdue, Memphis and Mississippi State.
Also see: Insider scoop on the team this spring
They kept "slim bubble hopes alive" with what Lunardi called an "impressive victory" over the BulldogsTuesday.
If that holds, the Gamecocks would be NIT bound and right now DRatings has them as a No. 3 seed with Tennessee, Tulsa and St. Louis.
Right now, all South Carolina can worry about is winning and hoping a few other bubble teams falter down the stretch.
Where the Gamecocks stand in different rankings: After Tuesday's win at home, the Gamecocks moved up eight spots in KenPom, the closest predictor to the NET, to No. 65 and moved up four spots in the NET to No. 61 with no real big jump in the rankings because the NET system values home wins a little bit less.
There are a few other rankings the committee could look at but don't have as much stock as the NET, and the Gamecocks are in the high-50s there.
They're No. 53 in two different metrics as well—Sagarin and KPI—while ESPN's BPI puts South Carolina at No. 71 with a strength of record at No. 65 in the country.
Almost every metric predicts the Gamecocks to beat Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon, ending the regular season at 19-12 and 11-7 in the SEC.
A broad look at the resume: The Gamecocks have solidified a winning record in both the regular season and the SEC with a few top-notch wins along the way. They currently have four Quad I victories—at Clemson, at Virginia, against Kentucky and at Arkansas—and two bad losses at home to Boston (Quad III) and Stetson (Quad IV).
The Gamecocks' have a strength of schedule at 53.
As of right now (using Wednesday's NET rankings), here's how the record against each quad shakes out:
Also see: What we learned from Tuesday's big hoops win
Quad I: 4-7
Quad II: 4-3
Quad III: 5-1
Quad IV: 5-1
The average NET rankings of opponents they've beaten is 132 while the average NET ranking of teams they've lost to is 75.
Where the Gamecocks rank in different metrics: So the NET creates what's called an adjusted win percentage (AWP). Each team is given a point value for wins—0.6 at home, one in a neutral site, 1.4 on the road—and the exact opposite for losses—1.4 at home, one at neutral sites and 0.6 on the road.
Using that metric, a win percentage (wins/loss) is calculated and is a big piece of the team's NET profile. Right now the Gamecocks have a AWP of 1.36.
Adjusted efficiency numbers also weigh heavily into a team's NET rankings and the Gamecocks are solid defensively and above average offensively.
They're No. 45 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (allowing 94.3 points per 100 possessions), No. 116 in offensive efficiency at 105.6 points per 100. In league play, South Carolina is ninth in offensive (102.9) and have the best defensive efficiency (97.6).
Also see: Instant analysis from Tuesday's hoops win
Against Mississippi State, South Carolina had its best offensive efficiency (118.7) in over 10 games.
What's next: The Gamecocks don't have many chances left for quality wins. Up next is NET No. 148 at Vanderbilt, which would be a Quad III win. A win Saturday is No. 19 on the year and obviously pushes them closer to the 20-win mark with some opportunities in the tournament to get to 20 and some more good wins in the SEC Tournament as well.
