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Published Mar 31, 2020
Greatest Gamecock bracket: football, basketball regionals, Sweet 16
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Collyn Taylor  •  GamecockScoop
Beat Writer
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@collyntaylor

The Greatest Gamecock bracket rages on with the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight this week.

The bracket includes some of the all-time greats and some elite matchups between some of the school's best players to ever come through Columbia.

The football and basketball regionals are Tuesday and Thursday while the baseball and other sports regionals are Wednesday and Friday.

Voting can be done on the Fighting Gamecocks Forum and continues through Wednesday morning.

(1) George Rogers vs. (4) Marcus Lattimore

The former No. 1 pick and program's lone Heisman winner against one of the most beloved running backs to come through the program. Rogers finished his career with 5,091 yards and 33 total touchdowns in four seasons at South Carolina and still holds plenty of school records 40 years after his college days are done. His No. 38 is retired by the school.

Lattimore had one of the best freshman years in school history, setting the freshman record for rushing yards (1,197), touchdowns (19) and points scored (114) as part of the team's SEC East championship team. Injuries derailed the rest of his career, but Lattimore still holds the school record for points scored in a season, touchdowns scored in a season and a career, is fourth all-time in total points scored (the highest position player listed) and is sixth all-time in rushing yards in a career.

(2) Jadeveon Clowney vs. (6) Connor Shaw

Another No. 1 overall recruit and top overall pick in 2014, Clowney dominated for three seasons at South Carolina. He still holds the school records for sacks in a game (4.5), tackles for loss in a season (23.5), sacks in a season (13), and is second in career tackles for loss (47) and third in career sacks (24).

Shaw is the winningest quarterback in school history, winning an unprecedented 27 games over four seasons at South Carolina. He still holds completion percentage records for his career, and made 177 straight attempts between 2012 and 2013 without an interception, tossing just one interception in 284 attempts his senior season. Shaw is also responsible for one of the greatest comebacks in school history, coming off the bench injured to win at Missouri in 2013.

(1) Alex English vs. (5) John Roche

English is one of a few retired jerseys in program history, earning All-American honors in 1975 and is currently second all-time on the all-time scoring list and averaged 17.8 points over his career and shot 53.8 percent from the field over four seasons. Since the Gamecocks weren't in the ACC or Metro conferences when he played, he couldn't get any all-conference honors, of which he would have earned many.

Roche is another great Gamecock, earning three All-SEC honors, and multiple All-American nods over his illustrious career where he totaled 1,910 points (currently fourth all-time) and is second in school history averaging 22.5 points per game. His No. 11 is retired and hanging up at Colonial Life Arena.

(2) A'ja Wilson vs. (3) Sindarius Thornwell

Wilson is by far the best player in program history: three-time SEC Player of the Year, three-time consensus All-American, four time All-SEC, SEC Freshman of the year, consensus player of the year and a national champion. She's first all-time in points, second in double-doubles and third in rebounds. It's just a matter of time before 22 is hanging in the rafters.

Thornwell may go down as one of the best players in program history as time goes on, turning into one of the best two-way players the school's ever seen. The All-Freshman player turned into an All-American and SEC Player of the Year as a senior, ranking fifth in points per game all-time and leading the team to its first Final Four ever in 2017 as part of a senior year where he averaged 21.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

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