Critical rematch forward for # 2 Gamecocks. Five things to watch the rest of the season – The Times and Democrat

On February 9, South Carolina visits Texas for what may be the most important game left in SEC. South Carolina defeated Texas 67-50 on January 12 in Colombia and both teams seek to make a statement in the rematch. South Carolina can confirm its status as Queens of the favorites of SEC and the National Championship, or Texas may enter the status of a contender.

The game is also crucial in the SEC ranking. If South Carolina wins, Gamecocks can take a command lead to add another banner and ask for the best seeds in the tournament. If Texas wins, the race is seriously stirred. Still enough that the next tiebreaker may enter the game: “The coin pulls away from the commissioner.”

South Carolina makes her annual trip outside the SEC when he hosted Uconn on February 16 (Gamecocks Victims Second Conference to play this game). This game does not mean anything in the ranking and forbidding blowing, no team will rise or fall significantly into the urns or net charts.

None of this will matter this afternoon. Colonial Life Arena has already been sold out. ABC will broadcast the game. Both teams want to make a statement after losing earlier non-conference shows (South Carolina in Ucla, Uconn in Notre Dame). It will be fun.

South Carolina won five of six against Uconn, including four straight. All wins in South Carolina were double figures, including the 2022 National Championship. You know that IRKS Geno Auriemma.

It is doubtful that someone traveled these games when the season began (maybe the game in Kentucky, but only because it is the finale of the season, not because of the enemy). But both teams were pleasant surprises.

Vanderbilt slowly started with three consecutive conference losses, which probably killed the commodores from the SEC race. Since then, Vanderbilt has recovered with victories over ranked enemies of Tennessee and Alabama and is capable of disorder.

Kentucky started SEC game with five straight wins before getting upset in Texas A&M. Wildcats are still just one game in the standings, although they are yet to play some of the best teams in the conference. Mathematically, at least this game can be for the title of SEC.

Edwards and Blex split like the two best freshmen on SEC. They are appropriate, the current co -chair of the week. Blax has the advantage of statistics (21.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.4 thefts), but Edwards have wins to go with a fairly large number of its (12.4 points, 4.9 rebounds , 1.1 assists, 1.2 thefts). There is something to say that he is the best player in the best team, this is what Edwards can be by the end of the season.

It can still happen long before the selection on Sunday and any game can have pulsation effects. It will take too long to go through every opportunity, but let’s just work for the safe assumption that South Carolina wants to be a seed in the Birmingham region.

It will take a collapse to descend South Carolina into two seeds. But there are many teams – mainly everyone, except for the two schools in LA, who want to play in Birmingham. These are some games that could influence:

• TCU in the State of Kansas – February 5
• Ohio State in UCLA – February 5
• Ohio State in South Cal – February 8
• UCLA in southern mud – February 13
• LSU in Texas – February 16
• Duke at Notre Dame – February 17
• Southern Mud in UCLA – March 1