South Carolina's first regular season opponent is officially finalized and it was one of the better mid-majors in the country last season.

The Gamecocks will host Liberty in the Hall of Fame Classic next Saturday, a quick change after Northwestern dropped out earlier this week.

Tip off for the game will be at 4 p.m. ET with the winner going on to play the winner of TCU-Tulsa.

Liberty is currently ranked No. 165 in KenPom's preseason rankings and the Flames are coming off a 30-4 regular season where they finished 79th in KenPom and 67th in the NET, one spot below South Carolina.

The Flames went 13-3 in the ASun conference and won the conference tournament, but lost three of their five starters from last year's team.