The South Carolina Gamecocks are right back where they were one year ago: the NCAA Tournament Final Four. Dawn Staley’s crew has been the hands-down favorite all season to win another national championship, and the Gamecocks are now just two games away from accomplishing that goal.
As the reigning national champion and the only team in Division I to go undefeated during the 2022-23 regular season, South Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament with lofty expectations. Those expectations have largely been met through the tournament’s first four rounds: The Gamecocks have won by an average of 22.5 points per game and were only truly challenged by Maryland in the Elite Eight.
For anyone even slightly familiar with what has brought the Gamecocks success in recent seasons, not much has changed during their latest NCAA Tournament run. As a team, South Carolina has a clear identity and executes it better than anyone else in the country; the Gamecocks rely on unmatched depth in the frontcourt, athletic and physical defense on the perimeter and sheer willpower and activity on the boards to overwhelm opponents, ranking at or near the top of the Division I leaderboards in defensive rating (73.3 points allowed per 100 possessions; No. 2 in Division I), total rebounding rate (62.9…
