If there are two things known about Frank Martin's scheduling tendencies, he's not afraid to schedule marquee games and he's not afraid to hit the road to play them.
Over just the last four years, the Gamecocks have played road games at Virginia, Michigan, UMass and Seton Hall (semi-neutral) with road games against Houston and George Washington coming up in 2020.
Because it's the offseason and schedules are getting finalized, GamecockCentral decided to look at a few fun non-conference games that would be fun for the Gamecocks and fans.
Home-and-homes
North Carolina
The Gamecocks and Tar Heels used to play quite a bit—51 total times in the programs' histories—but haven't lately. The last time they faced off was in Las Vegas in the 2011-12 season and before that it was the 1996-97 season. The last time these two programs played each other in either Columbia or Chapel Hill was in the 1970-71 season.
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There's a natural rivalry there since both schools were in the ACC together and it'd be interesting to see that rivalry rekindled.
It'd be cool to see the two state schools in the Carolinas have an annual game, or at least frequent matchups, and it'd be fun for Gamecock fans to get a chance to go and watch a game or two at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
Wake Forest
The Gamecocks and Demon Deacons have played 50 times but haven't since the 1982-83 season. It'd be fun to get that kind of game going again and for the Gamecocks to be able to have a few games in the state of North Carolina.
It'd would also give BJ McKie, who's an assistant under Steve Forbes at Wake now, a chance to coach against his alma mater and get back to Columbia for a game where his jersey hangs in the rafters.
Memphis
This is not an unusual matchup for South Carolina—the Gamecocks had a home-and-home with the Tigers from 2015-17—but Memphis is a budding team under Penny Hardaway, hauling in the No. 1 recruiting class last year and look to be good for the next few years. Any time a team schedules a good team from a good conference like the American Athletic, it boosts the NET rankings, which helps the tournament resume.
Frank Martin also likes to bring guys home during their careers for games close to family. TJ Moss is from Memphis and played for Hardaway's AAU team in high school, so it would be a nice homecoming for him and a resume-boosting opponent.
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Neutral sites
Rutgers at Madison Square Garden (New York City)
How much fun would a return to Madison Square Garden, the place where South Carolina clinched a trip to the Final Four, be against a team like Rutgers, which also has NCAA Tournament hopes?
The Gamecocks love playing in New York for recruiting purposes and getting to play on an elevated stage like MSG against a good opponent like Rutgers would be good exposure for the program and help strengthen the foothold they do already have up north.
Virginia Tech at Capital One Arena (Washington D.C.)
The Gamecocks have a game scheduled in D.C. for the 2020-21 season (a road game at George Washington) but playing an ACC team like Virginia Tech in a NBA arena can't hurt the team's exposure.
They recruit the DMV area pretty hard with assistant coach Bruce Shingler's ties to the area, and getting up there to play in a marquee event like that against a good Virginia Tech team would be a lot of fun.
There's also the underlying storyline of Mike White, who was at Wofford for a long time, currently at Virginia Tech with him and Martin being good friends.
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San Diego State at Staples Center (Los Angeles)
A maybe early-December trip out to California is never a bad idea, right? The Gamecocks would be able to play a very good program in the Aztecs (30-2 last season) in a marquee venue like the Staples Center.
It would also give Trey Anderson—who's from San Diego, two hours south of LA—a chance to see some family and friends.
Mid majors
Dayton
Martin and Dayton head coach Anthony Grant are good friends and it would be a fun matchup to see those two teams go at it, whether it was as a home-and-home, two-for-one or anything else.
Dayton's been a solid program for a very long time and would definitely be a resume-booster if the Gamecocks were to win.
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Furman
The Paladins have been one of the better teams in the state the last few years, winning no fewer than 23 games under Bob Richey, including going 25-7 this year. It'd be fun to see the Gamecocks go up against a team like Furman, and it would be a good mid-major win if the Gamecocks were to get it.
Central Florida
These two schools have only faced off twice since 1950—in 1984 and 1986—but it'd give the Gamecocks a game potentially in Florida, where they recruit heavily, and a good opponent in Central Florida that made the tournament in 2019.
It would also give Keyshawn Bryant a home game if they played in Orlando since he's from Winter Haven, about a hour west of Central Florida's campus.
