by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

LA CROSSE, Wis. – South Carolina is not going gently into that good night.

For the second time in the last three weeks, the Gamecocks have knocked off the No. 1 team in the country. It was Virginia Tech first, and South Carolina added Liberty to its list on Friday with a 12-10 triumph.

One win against a top-ranked teams is usually Selection Sunday gold for teams working out of the at-large pool. A pair of pelts from No. 1s? The Gamecocks should be a slam dunk.

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The only problem is South Carolina currently stands at 4-7.

It’s not the end of the world, mind you. Unlike our NCAA brethren, a team does not need to be over .500 to be considered for tournament at-large admission.

Back in 2010, the Selection Committee decided that Colorado, based almost entirely on its win over a dynastic Michigan squad, was worthy of admission to the 16-team field in Denver despite having a losing record.

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At the time, and in my role covering the league with USA Lacrosse, I railed against the decision. I thought it was a terrible precedent to set.

Admittedly, the Buffs acquitted themselves quite well in the postseason.

As an 11 seed, they stunned No. 6 Oregon in overtime before losing a 13-11, thriller against No. 3 Arizona State in the quarters. The Sun Devils fell in the championship by a goal to Michigan.

Despite the precedent, a losing team really hasn’t been in the running for an at-large. And for obvious reasons.

Typically, teams with losing records aren’t very good.

This South Carolina team is different, however. I would actually argue they are better than that Colorado team.

The Gamecocks have played a spectacularly impressive schedule, currently featuring 10 ranked teams – including eight in the Top 10. Almost all of the losses have come down to the wire.

Six of the losses have come by less than three goals, three of which by just a lone goal.

The Gamecocks can play with anyone. No sane person would contest that.

South Carolina will likely have the opportunity to battle for the SELC’s automatic qualifying bid, perhaps making this a moot conversation. The Gamecocks are a rescheduled win over Vanderbilt and/or a victory over Georgia this Friday away from qualifying for the conference tourney.

It’ll be an interesting next couple of weeks for USC. They will no doubt continue to keep the Selection Committee up at nights.

MY TOP FIVES

Division I
1. Florida (11-1) – People forget that the Gators handled Georgia.
2. San Diego State (7-0) – Bye week should have the ‘Tecs ready for the stretch run.
3. Georgia (10-1) – Wheeler & Cavanaugh are roasting everybody right now.
4. Utah Valley (10-1) – The Wolverines absolutely dismantled a good Boise State squad.
5. Simon Fraser (5-0) – Not seeing any losses left on the schedule until Round Rock.

Division I
1. Cal State San Marcos (7-1) – Just waiting for the UCSD game at this point.
2. Montana (12-2) – The Grizzlies manhandled a pair of ranked teams in Nampa.
3. Rhode Island (8-1) – Hopefully they don’t lose momentum for the postseason.
4. UC San Diego (9-1) – Only BYU has held Utah State to a lower output in a game.
5. Florida Gulf Coast (8-0) – The only undefeated team left in Division II.

SNEAK PEEK AT THE WEEK
The holiday this weekend has made for an early start, with a slate of 14 games on Thursday. Half of the games are conference tilts, including TCU at SMU. Texas pretends its in the RMLC again, traveling to Colorado and Colorado State.

Georgia Tech finishes off its season with a Beehive State run, tackling BYU and Utah Valley. South Carolina heads to Georgia on Friday in what could be a monster. Utah State at Montana State could be an RMLC title game preview.

Concordia takes the red-eye to Virginia to tangle with Liberty and the Hokies that will help the committee in the seeding process.

SLIDES & RIDES
- The three-way in Allendale between No. 2 St. Thomas, No. 5 Missouri State and No. 9 Grand Valley State settled…nothing? All three squads went 1-1 with MoState beating the Lakers, St. Thomas downing the Bears, and GVSU tripping up the Tommies. The only safe conclusion? All three will be in Round Rock.

- Rough weekend for Georgia Tech, to say the least. The Yellow Jackets losing to No. 7 Georgia team on the road was technically an upset, but that kind of stuff happens during the course of the year. The 19 goals given up? That’s a little more troubling for a team that has set the market on defense over the past decade.

The offense, or lack thereof, was the culprit in the hangover loss to Northeastern on Sunday. Tech will hope it’s a burn-the-film type of weekend and not an indication of something larger.

- You heard it here first: the LSA D-I tourney is going to be wild. Texas A&M’s wipeout of SMU is a head-scratcher. LSU is the presumptive favorite at this point with a 10-1 record, but the loss to Illinois still lingers. TCU, Texas, Kansas and Missouri are intriguing.

- Assuming Florida State doesn’t beat Florida by exactly seven goals – which would trigger a three-way tiebreaker – Auburn has assured itself that it will be one of the top two seeds in the upcoming SELC tournament. The Tigers stunned No. 15 Northeastern to start the weekend, but the 15-14 win over South Florida was the big one. Auburn still needs the AQ, but at least they know they’ll get the three out of the North.

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