If the South Carolina men's golf team is able to duplicate last year's stunning West Regional victory, the joyous trip home won't take nearly as long this time around.

A win also won't be nearly as surprising.

Along with 26 other teams, USC tees off Thursday in the NCAA East Regional at the 6,961-yard Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. A total of 71 teams are participating in the NCAA Tournament, which culminates May 28-31 with the NCAA Championships in West Lafayette, Ind.

USC is the No. 3 seed in the East Regional behind Georgia and Charlotte. Duke is the No. 4 seed, while host Chattanooga, the Southern Conference Champion, is No 5.

Georgia, which finished behind USC at the SEC Championships, is the No. 1 seed in the East Regional and Charlotte is No. 2.

"I'm tickled we're going to Chattanooga and I'm really looking forward to it," USC head coach Bill McDonald said earlier this week. "We've seen Georgia quite a bit this year. Charlotte's coach is a good friend of mine. They're a very strong team. I think our Regional has the most depth, top to bottom, of the three Regionals. There aren't many weak teams."

The Central Regional is being played at the Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio, while the West Regional is being held at the Golf Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.

One other Palmetto State school – Coastal Carolina – will play in the East Regional.

The Top 10 teams from each Regional advance to the NCAA Championships. The top two individuals not on advancing trams move on as well.

But McDonald again stressed USC is going to Chattanooga to win the tournament and not just advance to the NCAA Championships in two weeks.

"I want us to win the golf tournament," McDonald said. "Advancing is something you worry about at the end of the day after the third round. When you starting thinking about the numbers, it will hurt you. We're not good enough to just show up and advance. We have to play with an edge and with a lot of energy and it all has to be focused towards winning. Winning this East Regional would be an incredible achievement."

After topping several Pac-10 schools in last year's West Regional. USC finished 11th at the NCAA Championships in Williamsburg, Va., the Gamecocks' best finish in nine years.

McDonald will take five golfers to Chattanooga: seniors Mark Anderson and Warren Thomas, juniors Mark Silvers, III and Patrick Cunning and sophomore George Bryan, IV.

Cunning replaces Patrick Rada, who struggled at the recent SEC Championships. Cunning has played in seven tournaments this year with a 73.50 stroke average, fourth best on the team.

The five players heading to Chattanooga have combined for 13 NCAA Tournament events. Anderson, a graduate of the Beaufort Academy in Beaufort, S.C., has the most post-season experience in the lineup, participating in the nine SEC and NCAA events in which the Gamecock program has competed since his arrival. He has a 73.04 stroke average in those nine tournaments.

Bryan, who finished second at the SEC Championships, the highest finish by a Gamecock golfer since 1999, had a 72.27 stroke this spring, 10th-best in the SEC. He also has a 71.54 stroke average in four post-season events.

Silvers finished seventh at the SEC Championships three weeks ago, while Thomas was 12th with a season best score of 212.

Anderson, Bryan, Silvers and Thomas all represented USC at the 2007 West Regional.

McDonald described the Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga as a "risk-reward" course.

"If you're on with your ball-striking, you're going to have a lot of opportunities to make some birdies," McDonald said. "There was a tournament there in the fall and the scores were pretty low. If the greens are soft and there isn't much rough, I expect some pretty low scores."

McDonald and Bryan prepared for the NCAA Tournament by earning Top 10 finishes in last week's Horry County State Bank Carolinas Open at North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

McDonald took third-place honors with a three-round total of 204, nine strokes under par. Bryan tied for seventh at 208 and for the honor of being the top amateur finisher.

The Gamecocks finished second, eight strokes behind top-ranked Alabama, at the SEC Tournament on St. Simons Island, Ga. It was USC's best finish in that event since 1998.

USC's three-round total of 863 was the lowest SEC Championship score for the Gamecocks in school history. A sizzling round of 278 on the final day (April 20) allowed USC to zoom past Georgia and Florida in the final standings.

USC led briefly on the back nine on the final day before a strong finish earned Alabama the title.

Led by Bryan, USC placed four golfers among the Top 15 on the final individual leader board. Bryan was tied for second behind Alabama's Michael Thompson in the individual competition.

USC is ranked No. 12 nationally in both the weekly Golfworld/Nike Coaches poll and the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings.

1. Georgia

2. Charlotte

3. SOUTH CAROLINA

4. Duke

5. Chattanooga

6. Auburn

7. East Tennessee State

8. Michigan State

9. Ole Miss

10. UAB