The "Money Team" has cashed in.

A season of hope and expectation became one of unbridled success on Monday when No. 25 South Carolina was included in the 64-team bracket for the NCAA women's tournament. Coach Dawn Staley thought that her fourth team at USC had the talent, chemistry and leadership to make it to the postseason, and she was proven right at approximately 7:08 p.m.

That's when "South Carolina" was flashed onto the TV screen in Colonial Life Arena's McGuire Club, where it was matched up with Eastern Michigan. The fifth-seed Gamecocks (23-9) and the 12th-seed Eagles will play at 11:05 a.m. on Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind. Host Purdue (a four-seed) and South Dakota State (13) fill out the other side of the four-team pod, with No. 1-seed Stanford, No. 16-Hampton, eight-seed West Virginia and nine-seed Texas playing in Norfolk, Va., in the other four-team pod.

The two pods will send their winners to Fresno, Calif., for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups. This year's Final Four will be held in Denver.

But the actual matchups were in the back of the minds of Staley and her team. After an offseason spent preparing for this moment, completely turning a media-predicted eighth-place finish in the SEC on its ear, USC welcomed its arrival with shouts, cheers and a few tears.

Wearing black T-shirts with "I Believe" on the front and "The Time is Now" etched across the back shirttail, the team let loose a war whoop when the announcement was read. The hearty applause from the full room quickly drowned them out.

"This is just the beginning," Staley proudly proclaimed. "This is just the tip of the iceberg. We're going to be here, hopefully, every single year. So instead of having it in the Frank McGuire room, we're going to have it in Colonial Life Arena."

The event, attended by USC's cheerleaders, mascot Cocky, athletic director Eric Hyman and other administrators, was also open to the public. The McGuire Club was filled almost to capacity and aided with bumper stickers, balloons and T-shirts proclaiming a year of firsts. Two of Staley's signees for next year, Asia Dozier and Tiffany Mitchell, also attended.

The T-shirts mentioned USC's historic win at Tennessee, the program's first in Knoxville and the first win over the Lady Volunteers since 1980; the second 10-win SEC season in program history; the first 20-win season since 2002-03; and the program's first trip to the SEC tournament semifinals. All that was left was the other first since 2002-03 - an NCAA tournament berth, which was quickly announced with USC as part of the first group of names.

"I don't think it's hit me," said senior co-captain La'Keisha Sutton. "I was like, 'Wait a minute, that's South Carolina,' and all of our fans went crazy. It kind of reminded me of when coach Staley called my mom about me playing for her, saying, 'I need her, I just took this new job at South Carolina and I need her.'"

"To be a fifth seed, I think that speaks volumes," Hyman said. "These things don't happen overnight. This is our goal and our objective for all of our programs.

"It's an exciting time to be a Gamecock."

USC will immediately begin scouting EMU, which went 23-8 this year and won the Mid-American Conference tournament for the first time since 2004. It will be the first matchup in program history between the two.

"We don't much about the Eastern Michigan basketball team but within the next 24 hours, we'll know them from top to bottom," Staley said, as her assistant coaches split for the film room to begin gathering tape. "We'll know what kind of cereal they eat."

The Gamecocks have adopted a 24-hour rule for the season, not getting too high after a big win or too low after a harsh loss. While the excitement of the moment was grand, each player realized that 11:05 on Saturday morning comes very early, especially against an unfamiliar foe on an unfamiliar court.

"I don't think it will be a problem," freshman Aleighsa Welch said. "We've been very successful on the road this year (8-5). We feel that we can win no matter where we play."

Staley has never advanced past the second round of the tournament but USC has reached the Elite Eight, in 2001-02. It is the ninth tournament trip for the Gamecocks, who were also rewarded earlier Monday by being re-elevated into the Top 25.

"The journey has been hard," Staley said. "It looked a little better the second year, looked a lot better the third year, this year we put ourselves in position to have our South Carolina Gamecock team flash across the screen on television.

"But the journey has been a very long, hard fought battle. I want to thank our kids."