To say it's crunch time for Frank Martin and the Gamecocks would be an understatement.
The calendar is now in the month college basketball's come to own in March, which means tournament passports are beginning to get punched as Selection Sunday (March 15) gets closer and closer.
South Carolina has a big game Tuesday night (6:30 p.m., SEC Network) against Mississippi State that will go a long way in bolstering a tournament resumé.
Where the Gamecocks stand in a few metrics: Despite struggling and losing Saturday's game to Alabama, the Gamecocks (17-12, 9-7 SEC) didn't really drop much in any of the biggest metrics that will help determine the team's fate come tournament time.
Also see: How South Carolina beats Mississippi State
The Gamecocks actually moved up a spot to No. 63 in the NET after the loss and are currently the eighth-highest SEC team in the NET rankings.
In Joe Lunardi's which came out Monday, the Gamecocks are sitting in the "Next Four Out" category, which isn't a great place to be for a team with tournament aspirations but it's better than not being listed at all after losing three of their last four games.
Since they are in the Next Four Out, it means they'd be one of the first teams put in the NIT. There's only one real site putting together NIT projections on a consistent basis—DRatings—and right now South Carolina is considered a No. 3 seed there along with Tusla, Purdue and Connecticut and would play Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, UNC Greensboro or San Fransisco if those projections hold.
Where the Gamecocks stand in the SEC standings: The Gamecocks sit at nine wins right now, which is good for sole possession of sixth place in the SEC, one game behind Florida and Mississippi State at 10 wins.
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The Gamecocks are guaranteed a bye in the first round of the tournament, meaning they won't have to play until Thursday at the earliest in the tournament next week and have an outside shot at a top four seed and a double bye in the tournament if they win out and Florida loses its last two.
If Florida wins one game or South Carolina loses one, the Gamecocks could no longer get a double bye.
Behind knowing they won't be one of the top three teams or bottom five teams in the league, the rest is still kind of up in the air. Six teams—Florida, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama and Tennessee—are separated by two games.
South Carolina has tiebreakers over two of those teams (Texas A&M and Tennessee) and would have the tiebreaker over Mississippi State with a win Tuesday (which we'll get to).
If the season ended today, the Gamecocks would be the No. 6 seed in the tournament playing the winner of the first round game between the No. 11 seed (Missouri) and No. 14 seed (Vanderbilt).
KenPom predicts the Gamecocks to finish 10-8 in conference play.
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What a win Tuesday can do: So getting to that tiebreaker. A win Tuesday would mean a split in the season series and the tiebreaker would then go to the Gamecocks since they have a better record against the No. 1 seed in the tournament, this year being Kentucky.
A win would mean a tenth conference win as well, guaranteeing double-digit SEC wins for the fourth time in five years and guarantee the Gamecocks get no worse than seventh in the SEC.
On a bigger picture, a win obviously gives the sputtering Gamecocks a marquee win against a good, potentially tournament-bound, Mississippi State team.
The Bulldogs come in No. 52 in the NET, which means a win at Colonial Life Arena would be considered a Quad II one. It's the last chance for a Quad I or Quad II win in the regular season and could go a long way in determining if the Gamecocks are in the field of 68 or in the NIT.
Needless to say, this is a very big game for South Carolina and a game the Gamecocks want to be playing in with so little time left.
