The South Carolina men's basketball team is now ranked in the Associated Press poll for the first time this season, as it was ranked No. 15 in the latest poll released on Monday.
The ranking marked South Carolina's first appearance in the poll since the 2016-17 campaign, when the team was last ranked No. 21 in the country on Feb. 13, 2017.
South Carolina heads into this week with a 19-3 record and a 7-2 mark in SEC, tied for second in conference play behind only Alabama. The Gamecocks have clinched two top-10 victories over its last four games, including a 79-62 win over then-No. 6 Kentucky on Jan. 23 and a 63-59 upset of then-No. 5 Tennessee on the road one week later.
South Carolina was on the cusp of being ranked last week but found itself just outside the top 25 following its win against the Wildcats, finishing with 108 votes, the most of any unranked team.
The Gamecocks will look to extend its stay in the top 25 with two upcoming home games this week. South Carolina will face Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday before taking on Vanderbilt on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on the SEC Network.