South Carolina basketball analytics update following Clemson loss

South Carolina basketball has started the 2025-2026 season with a 7-4 record. The Gamecocks’ four defeats have come in their only four games against power conference opponents. Conversely, USC is 7-0 against lower-level foes. Over the last week, Lamont Paris’ team played twice. USC won an ugly game against The Citadel Bulldogs before losing the annual rivalry game to the Clemson Tigers.

But what does the analytics data say about South Carolina basketball?

Throughout the season, GamecockCentral will compile the data points and rankings from three major college basketball analytics publications — Ken Pomeroy’s KenPom rankings, Evan Miyakawa’s data from EvanMiya.com, and Bart Torvik’s T-Rank numbers — and compare them to USC’s numbers from the previous week.

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Already, the 2025-2026 season is about one-third of the way finished. The schedule includes two more out-of-conference opponents before the calendar flips to January and SEC play.

The analytics picture is becoming clearer, and the gurus are good at what they do. Let’s take a look at Carolina’s metrics through the team’s first nine games, as of games played on December 17th.

South Carolina’s overall spot in the rankings from KenPom hasn’t changed. The Gamecocks are still 86th nationally. The efficiency metrics shifted, though. USC is now No. 112 in the country on offense, which represents a 27-spot improvement from this time last week. Carolina also moved up 21 spots to No. 70 on defense.

Evan Miyakawa’s EvanMiya ratings saw South Carolina move up a bit. Shifted up three slots, the Gamecocks are now No. 92 in college basketball. Like KenPom, the EvanMiya offensive metrics dropped Carolina 11 spots to No. 112 in the country. The defensive efficiency numbers like USC better, though, ranking Lamont Paris’ team at No. 73 nationally, a 36-spot improvement. In Miyakawa’s SEC player rankings, Mike Sharavjamts (No. 26) and Meechie Johnson (No. 70) cracked the top 100.

The Gamecocks fell in the T-Rank from Bart Torvik. Down one overall spot to No. 94, South Carolina saw a large drop in offensive rating and a large rise in defensive metrics. On offense, the garnet and black has moved down 25 spots to No. 129. Defensively, USC is up 28 positions to No. 71 in the sport. USC still has a Wins Above Bubble (WAB) rating in negative territory. That is significant, as just two at-large teams made the NCAA Tournament last year with a negative WAB, while all but eight positive WAB teams went dancing.

As those numbers relate to the rest of the SEC, South Carolina is 16th out of 16 in overall ranking according to Evan Miyakawa. However, KenPom and Torvik slot the Gamecocks at 15, ahead of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. USC is last in the conference in offensive efficiency ranking, according to all three analytics gurus. Defensively, that is not the case. KenPom ranks Carolina 11th, ahead of Auburn, Texas, Mississippi State, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Miyakawa likes the Gamecocks as the SEC’s 12th-best defense, ahead of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State. Torvik has USC at No. 11 in the league, in front of Texas, Missouri, Auburn, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State.

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The Gamecocks will play just once over the next week. It will be the third game in a row for South Carolina against another Palmetto State school.

South Carolina will return home for another in-state contest on Monday. The Gamecocks will face off against the South Carolina State Bulldogs in the team’s second-to-last non-conference game of the season.

On Monday, December 22nd, South Carolina State will make the drive up I-26 from Orangeburg for a 4:00 p.m. tip at Colonial Life Arena. The matchup will not be on traditional television but will stream on SEC Network+.

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