South Carolina has been left out of the NIT.

The Gamecocks' season looked like it may be over following their second-half collapse against Mississippi State in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday.

But there was still hope that Frank Martin's team had done enough to earn a postseason bid in the NIT. The seventh-place team in the SEC, though, was left out of the field after finishing 18-13 and 9-9 in the SEC to put a damper on what was a solid finish to the season in February.

The Gamecocks stood at 13-10 on Feb. 8 following three consecutive losses to Mississippi State, Tennessee and Kentucky. But South Carolina rallied, turning things around with a win over Georgia that jump-started a four-game winning streak and wins in five of its last seven games to close out the regular season at 18-12 and a .500 mark in the SEC.

That close to the season sparked a small glimmer of hope that a run to the SEC tournament championship game could net the Gamecocks an NCAA Tournament berth. The second-round conference tournament loss, however, nixed any of those hopes and with it a postseason bid is out the window, too.

Now, without the opportunity for a long run in the NIT, speculation will continue to swirl even stronger about Martin's status with the Gamecocks’ program.

Martin has compiled a 171-147 record (.538 winning percentage) during his 10-year tenure that includes an incredible run to the Final Four in 2017. And he has made it clear how badly he wants to return to Columbia and continue as head coach of the program.

“These kids, they gave me life when I was dead,” Martin said earlier this week. “And I don’t want to stop. I want to keep coaching them.”