South Carolina is on a mission early in the NCAA’s tournament.
The undefeated Gamecocks advanced to the Sweet 16 with two dominant March Madness victories. They followed a 91-39 rout over Presbyterian with an 88-41 blowout over North Carolina.
Pat McAfee is among the numerous basketball viewers impressed with South Carolina. The ESPN personality called Dawn Staley’s team “unstoppable” on Monday’s show.
“This South Carolina team may be the most dominant basketball team I’ve ever seen on the court. … That South Carolina team’s going to be a problem,” McAfee said.
McAfee said the team played “furious” and “p****d” during Sunday’s onslaught over the Tar Heels. He pointed to players angrily reacting to a foul not called while the game was well out of hand.
South Carolina also entered last season’s tournament undefeated after capturing the 2022 title, but they fell to Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the national semifinal. The Gamecocks look hungry to finish the job this time.
“Iowa’s got the heart. LSU’s got the pedigree, obviously. They’ve won a national championship,” McAfee continued. “But that women’s tournament seemingly goes through one team and one team alone, and that’s the team that hasn’t lost yet and doesn’t seem to be anywhere close [to losing].”
South Carolina’s bench outscored North Carolina’s entire team in a lopsided second-round contest at Columbia. Staley liked what she saw from her squad.
“We haven’t played like that in a super long time,” Staley said, per ESPN’s Katie Barnes. “We actually were talking about that in the coaches’ locker room, like, we haven’t played well all together. Every single one of our players made an impact coming into the game.”
South Carolina awaits the winner of Monday night’s matchup between Indiana and Oklahoma.